Living
by Kavi Leighanna
Summary: REBIRTH SEQUEL. Just because Jean and Logan are together doesn't mean life is going to be easy. Scott returns with dire consequences for the couple and the Xmen.
1. Chapter 1

_**Alright ladies and gentlemen, here is the awaited sequel to Rebirth. Now, be patient with me because there's a few things I want to do before I get into the meat and potatoes of the story. I promise it will be there, I swear but not until September probably. I'm not going to have a lot of access to a computer with Internet access for the rest of the summer, except in between my entire messy summer. **_

_**HOWEVER I promise to have it all written by the time I go off to school at the beginning of September. This is the sweet first chapter and maybe I'll have the second one up before I head off to the cottage on Saturday. In fact, I'll try really really hard. **_

_**Gambit will be in this story, in fact, in the next chapter, but I know nothing about how he actually gets into the whole X-men mix so I'm making up my own. **_

_**Oh, and for those who are reading this before Rebirth, Logan is so OOC you might want to puke. **_

_**Thanks!** _

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**Chapter 1 **

Logan awoke with a start to realize Jean was not in bed with him. Immediately, he was worried. Jean rarely got up in the middle of the night and this was the end of two weeks of constant waking up. He made his way carefully to the closed bathroom door and knocked gently.

"Jeannie?"

"I'm fine Logan," he heard weakly.

"No, you're not."

"I am," she insisted. "Go back to bed, I'll be out in a minute."

"What is going on?" Silence greeted him and he strained his ears to understand, eyes widening as he heard her retching. Without warning her he was coming in, he opened the door and was greeted with her curled around the toilet, red hair piled in a knot at the base of her skull. Without a word, Logan took a seat beside her, rubbing her back. When she eventually sat up and leaned towards him, he easily pulled her into his arms.

"Are you sick?"

"Probably just something I ate," she managed to groan.

"Darlin' it's been two weeks," Logan pointed out. "You haven't been eatin' the same thing for two weeks."

"It'll pass Logan," she said indulgently. In reality, she was just as worried. Odd things had been making her rush to the bathroom lately to empty her stomach when she'd been feeling perfectly fine before hand.

Logan could do nothing but sight. "Back to bed?"

"Yeah." Carefully, so as not to upset her stomach again, Logan and Jean made their way back to their bed, Jean immediately curling up against him.

"Feel better, Darlin'," he murmured as he drifted off to sleep. "Love you."

* * *

The next day after morning classes, Jean tracked Ororo down for girl talk over lunch. 

"I'm late," Jean said when she was sure no one else was listening in. Ororo had broached the subject of Jean's sickness and they'd briefly discussed the possibility of pregnancy.

"Are you sure," the dark skinned woman asked unnecessarily.

"Definitely. I've been like clockwork since the beginning," Jean stated.

"You're the doctor Jean," Ororo pointed out.

"What if I am, 'Ro?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is Logan going to do?"

"He loves you, Jean, what makes you think he'd be something other than happy?"

"This is Logan we're talking about. You know he's apprehensive about passing on his genes because he knows nothing about them," Jean answered. "What if he doesn't want it?"

"You don't even know if you're truly pregnant or not," Ororo tried to calm her down.

"'Ro I'm throwing up at the weirdest times and my period is late, what else could it be?"

"Stress?"

"There is no stress," Jean insisted. "For the first time since I got back that I can say without any hesitation that I'm completely happy.

"Before you freak out get a test. Make sure before you jump to conclusions," Ororo suggested.

Jean sighed. "You're right."

Ororo grinned. "Of course I am."

Jean scoffed. "Come on, we should get back to class."

* * *

Jean sat in the bathroom she shared with Logan looking at the stick in her hands, her mind still trying to process the blue lines that had started to show. She was pregnant. Her mind couldn't decided if she was terrified or excited. There was a lot to consider about bringing a child into the world she currently occupied. 

"Jean?" Logan had just returned from his class, the extra credit one he taught at night for the advanced and the challenged.

"In here," she called back.

"Again?" he asked, voice immediately becoming concerned.

"No, not this one," she answered, hoping her voice didn't sound as shocked as she felt.

"Then why have you locked yourself in the bathroom?" With a simple thought, the lock clicked and she allowed the door to swing open slightly in invitation. He stepped in and found her seated on the toilet.

"Jeannie?" He finally caught sight of the object in her hands.

"Logan," she said fearfully. "I'm pregnant."

"What?"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated as she looked down at the stick in her hands, tears blurring her vision. Logan crouched by her, hands on her knees.

"Are you sure?" he asked softly. Jean nodded, hair falling in her face from the messy bun she'd thrown her tresses into.

"Jeannie, look at me." Tentatively, she raised her eyes, surprised to find his shining with an unreadable glint.

"Do you want this?"

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Do you?"

"I'm going to be a father," he whispered to her in awe. Her mouth almost dropped at the happiness she could feel flooding over their link.

"You want this child?" she whispered, amazed.

"Jean, you an I… we're going to have a baby."

The emotions that flashed over her face fluttered at both ends of the spectrum. Finally, she burst into tears of happiness, wrapping her arms aound him and sliding to the floor, the test still clutched in her hand. He picked her up easily, depositing her on their bed.

"I love you," he said, kissing her passionately.

Jean broke away with an ironic smile. "You know doing what you're thinking is exactly what got us here to begin with," she quipped.

He only smiled, his fingers making quick work of her blouse. "I didn't hear you complaining," Logan murmured, crawling up her body.

"I'm not," she promised.

"Good," he breathed, sealing his lips to hers.

* * *

Jean was zoned out in classes the next day, her had in the clouds. She'd not only managed to keep down her dry toast and orange juice, but she was pregnant. The students couldn't figure out what was up with their beloved doctor. 

"Jeannie?" Logan called, stepping into her classroom between classes. She looked up her eyes shining.

"Hey," she said sweetly as he approached, allowing him to drop a kiss to her cheek.

"I wanted to check on you," he admitted softly.

_Logan,_ she projected affectionately. _I'm pregnant, not dying._

"You still have to be careful," he told her out loud. "And we're going to have to mention this to Chuck."

Jean winced. "I forgot about that," she admitted. "I might have to cut back on the missions I go on."

Logan's face scrunched up. "You _will_ cut back."

"Eventually," she promised, "but I have about five months before I can't go anywhere."

"Jean…"

"No, Logan. I will be working with the team. 'Ro can't deal with losing me for too long, not after Scott." Ororo had taken over as team leader after Scott's abrupt departure, a move that had baffled most of the younger members. The expectation was that Jean would take Scott's place but Jean had never wanted the position and deferred it to Ororo.

"You're…"

"I know and I promise to only go when I'm truly needed. Now shoo. I have a class to teach."

"When do you want to tell the professor?"

"Tonight?" she questioned.

"Sounds good," he answered, kissing her hard. The students who were milling about the room applauded loudly and Jean blushed. Logan sauntered out of the room, his face smug.

* * *

"So?" Ororo quested, catching Jean as she was locking up the classroom. The weather-witch could tell there was something different about her redheaded friend, but even thought they'd spoken about pregnancy the previous day, Ororo didn't want to assume anything. 

Jean grinned shyly. "I'm pregnant," she confirmed. "I told Logan last night."

"And?" Ororo pressed.

"I'm having this baby."

"What about Logan?"

"He's been overprotective," Jean answered with a roll of her eyes, remembering the way Logan checked in on her after each class.

"So he's happy?"

"Over the moon."

"I told you," Ororo teased.

"Don't celebrate just yet. He almost took my head off when I told him I wasn't cutting back on my missions until my fifth month."

"Jean! You can't do that! The things we do are dangerous," Ororo protested.

"It would be longer if I had my way," Jean shot back as the two women made their way down the hall.

"Logan would kill me if anything happened to you or the baby."

"I'll be extra careful," Jean promised. "But I'd go stir-crazy just teaching."

"You have another person to consider," Ororo tried.

"And I'll be careful," the redhead repeated. "Logan's been trying to argue with me all day and hasn't changed my mind."

"Can we make a compromise?" Ororo suggested.

"I'll go to five instead of the seven months I'd originally planned?" The glint in Jean's eyes told Ororo she was teasing.

"Something like that," Ororo agreed. "Until you start to show."

"What?"

"You're a prime target if someone unfriendly notices you're pregnant…"

"Ororo, that's ridiculous!"

"No it's not, and you know it," Ororo shot back. "It's true."

Jean glowered slightly. It was completely true. She was strong but if she was ganged up on because she was considered the weakest link… and with her fear of Phoenix and lack of knowledge as to the effect of using her mutation on her baby, Jean was suddenly reluctant.

"'Ro…"

"I'm right, Jean, you know it."

"You are," the redhead agreed reluctantly, "but not for the reasons you think."

"Does that mean you'll listen?"

"We'll play it by ear," Jean decided. "I still want my five months."

"Logan's going to kill me," Ororo groaned loudly. Jean laughed.

* * *

_Jean?_ The redhead looked up sharply from the test she was creating, regardless of the fact that she know no one was in the lab with her. 

_Yes, Professor? _

_I need you and Rogue to do something for me. _

_Rogue and I? _

_And I'd like it kept out of the logs. _

_I'm not sure I understand. _

_I would like the two of you to find something, or rather someone for me. _

Jean chewed her lower lip. It wouldn't be dangerous and it wouldn't necessarily require her to tell Xavier aobut her pregnancy. If she and Rogue were finding someone, it wouldn't be a problem…

_When do we leave?_

**

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_Gah! It didn't upload properly the first time so I hope you guys enjoy this better... Sorry about that! This probably makes much more sense too..._


	2. Chapter 2

**_I apologize for the rushed-ness of the last chapter and the virtual irrelevence of this chapter but I have to lead up to the whole issue. And we will be seeing Scott again, people, I apologize. It'll be fun though, you'll see!_**

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**_Chapter 2_**

Logan was going to kill her, she was well aware of that, but she hadn't wanted to say anything and she hadn't gotten a chance to say anything to him before she was needed on the jet that would take them to New Orleans, the last known address for the professor's contact. 

"Logan was in a fantastic mood today," Rogue said, sitting in the leather seat of Xavier's private jet.

"Really?" Jean played dumb.

"Ah figured you might know why."

Jean kept her gaze on the book in her lap. "I make a mental note not to read his mind."

"Ah guessed you might be the cause."

"Me?"

"Dr Grey—"

"Jean," the redhead corrected absently. Rogue, having finished her schooling the previous June and now a graduate of the Institute, no longer had to be formal with the senior members of the team. It had been a chore to break her of the habit.

"Jean," Rogue amended. "Yah don't have ta play dumb. The only reason Logan's eva happy these days is because of somethin' ta do with you."

Jean narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "He talks about me?"

"Only ta me and only in private," Rogue promised.

Jean relaxed in relief. "But what happens when you assume?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but now you're avoidin' mah question."

"And now you're prying," Jean replied gently, looking out into the sky.

"Ah'm just curious," Rogue protested innocently.

"And curiosity killed the cat," Jean pointed out. Rogue rolled her eyes.

"We're almost there," Jean said, looking over the landscape below. As if cued the landing gear started to descend. They were arriving in New Orleans.

* * *

The day passed quietly, mainly because Jean had been feeling exhausted from the plane ride and her pregnancy and had dropped off to sleep the minute they entered their hotel suite. Rogue agreed on the nap, taking the time to review the mission objectives. 

Or she tried.

There were pieces of a really big puzzle missing and it was starting to bug her. It wasn't just that Logan was in a much happier mood but Jean was usually extremely efficient and usually would have wanted to start in on the mission ASAP. Instead, the redhead had opted for a nap, an irregularity for the always active doctor.

_Rogue._ The teenager jumped at the mental voice.

_Please wake Jean for me. I need to have a word with her._

Rogue shook Jean slightly to wake her and Jean's eyes blinked open.

"The professor wants to talk with you."

"Thanks," Jean mumbled and Rogue left her alone.

_Professor?_

_Logan is throwing a fit, Jean. _Something in Xavier's voice shadowed disappointment in her, but she ignored it for the time being.

_Why?_

_Jean…_

_I couldn't find him,_ Jean replied petulantly, acting childish.

_You didn't want to find him, _Xavier corrected. _What is going on?_

_Logan would have been upset if I told him._

_That doesn't answer my question._

_He's being overprotective._

_With good reason?_

_It's Logan._

_Jean…_

_I'll call right now and talk to him, _she compromised.

_I would like to know what is going on for the future…_

_And you will, just not now._ Abruptly, she cut the telepathic link and reached for the phone.

"Damnit Jean," Logan exclaimed when he came on the line. "What were you thinking?"

"That I could take care of myself," she shot back. "It's not like I'm here on my own either."

"You're pregnant!"

"Not incompetent. Look this is a simple find and talk to mission, noting more, nothing less," she tried to placate him.

"And when things turn violent?" he almost growled.

"Rogue is here and I have my mutation. You really need to stop worrying," she said, trying to reason with him instead.

"Jeannie…"

Jean smiled, knowing the use of her nickname meant she was wearing him down. "I'll call," she cajoled, "and we can set up a doctor's appointment when I get back."

"I still don't like this," he finally relented.

"And you'll never like it until I decide to stay at home instead of going out on missions," she quipped back. "I love you."

"Love you too, Red. Don't forget to call."

"I promise."

Rogue was bouncing her food, sitting on the couch when Jean emerged from the bedroom, ready to head out and track down Xavier's contact.

"Everything okay?" Rogue asked.

"I didn't tell Logan I was leaving and he flipped his lid," Jean responded vaguely.

"Gosh, he's really startin' tah be a tad annoyin'." If there was one thing Rogue knew about Jean it was her love of her independence.

"Just protective," Jean defended habitually.

"Jean, you'd tell me if there was somethin' I needed ta know for this mission, right? Like if you were sick?"

"Of course! Anything that would make me a liability you'd know about," the redhead promised, moving about. "Shall we go?"

* * *

They both moved stealthily through the New Orleans streets knowing that the seedier side was not a good place for either of them to be found. They kept close to the shadows, following the directions Xavier had provided them with. 

"This is it," Jean breathed finally to her companion. "We're here."

The building look a little worse for wear, the side door they were looking at rusty and old. The alley was dark, the perfect hide away for lowlifes.

"Are you sure?" Rogue whispered, doubt heavy in her voice

"I wasn't away Charles had friends like this either," Jean assured the younger woman.

"And the professor said he'd be expectin' us?" The apprehension was rolling off of Rogue in tidal waves, almost threatening to overwhelm Jean.

"Checked again a few minutes ago. This contact knows we're supposed to be here," Jean said. Rogue took a deep breath, preparing herself for the next part of the plan.

The part that required her to separate from Jean and go alone.

* * *

Remy LeBeau sat at the small bar, staring disinterested at the wood in front of him. He'd decided against straying too far tonight, even before he'd been contacted by Charles Xavier. Now, there was a name he hadn't heard of or thought of in a while. The fact that old Chucky had made contact with him, explaining two of his own were coming to see Remy at the request of the old man, reeked of terror and concern for the future of his school. 

"We expected ta be waitin' for yah." Remy spun quickly on his stool to face the stranger and came face to face with the most beautiful woman he could remember seeing… and he'd seen a few in his time. The woman took a seat beside him, her gaze not leaving his face. Her hair was pulled back with the exception of two white stripes that framed her face.

"We?" Remy inquired, feigning disinterest. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Look, Ah don't have time or patience ta play games wit yah, sugah. Cut the crap and let's get down to busieness." Remy was taken aback by the bluntness of her comment. Usually, women catered to him, but this one was different.

"Business, chere? You don't take your time do you?" Before the other woman could reply, Remy was treated to the sight of flaming red hair and porcelain white skin.

"Ah, so this is the 'we'," he leered.

_Mr LeBeau, I might suggest you tone down your innuendoes. I'm not sure Professor Xavier would take it too well,_ he heard an amused voice in his head. Immediately, his eyes shot to the redhead, slightly startled. The redhead only continued to smile in amusement.

_You're not the only one who's special Mr Lebeau. Shall we take a walk?_ Remy considered what it was going to look like for him to leave with the two women standing in front of him and stood.

"T'anks ami," he called to the bartended and he followed both women out to the alley. Jean led the way out of the alley and around her own bends, seemingly knowing where she was going.

"Chere, I didn't t'ink we 'ad far ta go," Remy spoke up finally when they were in the middle of a dark park.

The redhead stopped. "We needed privacy," she explained simply, then faced him and held out a slender hand. "Jean Grey."

"Pleasure, chere," Remy responded, taking the hand and pulling it to his mouth. Jean's face didn't falter, but the other woman snorted in amusement.

"Et tu?" Remy inquired.

"Rogue," she responded tartly. "'N if yah not careful Wolverine might be on your skinny ass." Jean rolled her eyes.

"Mr LeBeau," she began, all serious. "I'm pretty sure you know why we're here."

"Mr Xavier and I had a short conversation," Remy agreed.

"He would appreciate it if you would come to New York."

"Oui chere, he did mention dat."

"And?" Remy's gaze darted to an impatient Rogue.

"I told him I'd have to t'ink about it," Remy responded with a nonchalant shrug.

"We don't have time for ya ta think about it swamp rat," Rogue spat.

"Chere if I didn't know better I'd t'ink you didn't like me," Remy said, pretending to be offended. Jean's hand came to rest on Rogue's shoulder.

"Mr LeBeau, Charles wants your help with the increasing mutant attacks, and we were hoping you would come back to the Institute with us," Jean said calmly.

"Chere, Remy is…"

"Look, swamp rat, Ah don't like yah, but Xavier wants yah help and the least yah could do is try it out," Rogue snapped.

"I don't t'ink dats a good way to treat un ami," Remy scolded calmly.

"Yah not a friend ah mine," Rogue murmured.

"Mr LeBeau—" Jean tried again.

"Remy," he corrected.

"Remy," she amended sweetly. "We were asked to convince you to accompany us back to New York and give our side a chance. We really don't want to stay here long."

"De two of you live with de famous professor, no?"

"Yes," Jean answered, flashing Remy her cutest grin.

"Every homme needs his motivation, no? If ladies like yourself are living with Mr Xavier den I really have no choice."

Jean couldn't stop the grin that passed over her face. "Thank you Mr LeBeau.

"Remy," he corrected again, leering at her.

"I'll let the pilot know he's taking three back," Jean said excitedly.

"Right now chere?" Remy asked, surprised.

"No," Jean decided. "Tomorrow morning."

"Does she always take control like this?" Remy asked Rogue conspiratorially with a wink.

"Are you always this much of an asshole?" Rogue asked in reply. Remy only chuckled.

"Dis will be fun," Remy said.

* * *

Rogue was frazzled as she stepped off the plane back in New York. She'd spent the trip dealing with Remy's innuendoes while Jean slept. Rogue vaguely wondered why Jean needed so much sleep, but wasn't about to guess the reason. However, she was still frustrated from dealing with the constant leering from the Cajun.

Rogue watched as Logan all but attacked Jean as she stepped off the plane. He seemed to be checking her over to make sure she was in one piece. His hands stopped, she noticed, on her stomach and Rogue, in her curiosity, couldn't stop her mind from wondering why.

"Chere, it's not nice to stare." She was going to slaughter the damn man…

"Logan! We're fine," she heard Jean exclaim. Then it all made sense.

_Jean's pregnant!_ Said redhead met her eyes and smiled shyly.

_We haven't told anyone, including the professor,_ Rogue heard Jean's voice in her head. Rogue nodded in understanding. The secret was safe with her.

* * *

"Professor?" Jean called, knocking on the office door.

"Yes Jean?"

"Can we have a word?" she asked, poking her head in.

"Of course," Xavier agreed simply, waving her in. Logan followed, taking a seat across about the pregnancy, especially since she'd gone to New Orleans.

"Chuck, we've got somethin' we wanna tell you," Logan spoke up.

"I'm pregnant," Jean followed swiftly. "But that's just a formality, isn't it?"

The professor smiled. "I guess it was."

"You knew?" Logan asked. "Then why send her to New Orleans?"

"The danger involved was minimal and I know how stubborn Jean can be," Xavier explained with a smile in Jean's direction. She'd always held a special place in his heart.

"I am not," Jean protested superficially, knowing it was true.

"What does this mean for her missions?" Logan inquired, knowing the only person who would be able to make Jean listen was Xavier.

"I believe it would be in all of our best interest to allow Jean to make her own decisions, don't you agree?"

"With all due respect, professor, isn't that dangerous for the baby?"

Logan, I believe you are being overprotective," Xavier defended. Logan looked torn between screaming at Xavier and allowing Jean to make her decisions.

"Ororo and I discussed it, Logan. We're going to make a decision later on. You do trust me, don't you?" Jean pleaded.

"Jean…" Logan protested as Xavier looked on.

"If anything changes with the pregnancy, I will reconsider," Jean decided. Really, Logan didn't have an argument back, and stayed silent.

"Jean, Logan, there are things I must attend to," the professor spoke up. Jean and Logan exchanged a look and left, Xavier could hear the argument going down hall.


	3. Chapter 3

**_All right so I'm back to the land of the living, that is, I have internet access for the next 36 hours or so. As such, I am posting this, and technically I was supposed to post Chapter 4 but only if I can get the edits finished in time. I didn't like how fast this story was moving as it was, since I completely skipped most of the pregnancy (oh, I didn't spoil anything! It's right here!). I'll try and edit it tonight and get it up by tomorrow, but I'm not making any promises. _**

**_If you're really lucky and I can find access while I'm in Winnipeg, I'll post the next one next week!_**

**_Enjoy_

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**Chapter 3 **

The last nine months had been a whirlwind of happiness and fear. A couple of close calls during missions in her fourth month had restricted Jean to voluntary house arrest. Jean had also braved numerous doctor's appointments with Logan…

**_FLASHBACK _**

_"We're just going to check up on this baby," Hank spoke up, interrupting Logan and Jean in the medlab. Since Hank was the closest thing to a doctor that had connections to the mansion other than Jean, it seemed like an easy thing to call him their OB/GYN. _

_"We've got a sex," he said with a smile. _

_"Girl," Jean stated promptly. "We've had that conversation already." _

_Hank grinned at her. "Why am I here again?" He continued to move the wand over her stomach, his face screwed up in concentration as he listened closely. _

_"What is it, Hank?" Logan asked, concerned. _

_"We might have an irregular heartbeat," Hank said carefully. "It's not going to affect the baby too much. Just be careful, take your time, less stress… the usual things to lower blood pressure," he suggested to Jean. The redhead nodded as she watched Hank pack up the ultrasound. _

_"Other than that, everything is perfect." _

_Jean smiled as Logan helped her off of the table. "Thanks Hank." _

**_END FLASHBACK _**

" Logan!" Jean exclaimed, shaking him roughly before doubling over in pain.

"Jeannie?"

" Logan," she moaned, leaning forward and grasping the bedspread until her knuckles turned white.

"What's wrong?" he asked, shooting upright in bed. Jean had been having pains for the last week, but it had never been that bad.

Jean grimaced. "Grab my bag and wake Hank. I'm in labour."

Logan was up and moving about in an instant, wrapping an arm under Jean to help her stand and grabbing the duffle packed by the door. Then they were on their way down to the infirmary, Logan pausing to wake Hank up. When they, specifically Jean, were settled, Hank smiled down at Jean.

"Its nice to know this little girl is going to have the same promptness as her mother," Hank said affectionately, hooking Jean up to the necessary equipment. "Does she have a name yet?"

"We haven't officially decided," Jean forced out between clenched teeth.

"Between?" Hank asked, trying to keep Jean's mind off of the pain.

"Michele Ashley and Jane Stefany," the redhead breathed as the contraction passed.

"I'm partial to Michele," Hank offered conversationally.

" Logan likes Jane," Jean answered with a smile, loosening her death grip on Logan's hand. "Therein lies the problem."

"Why Jane?" the blue man inquired.

"Jean and Jane," Logan explained bluntly. Hank chuckled softly, the sound drowned out by the hiss Jean gave as the next contraction hit, the painkillers having not kicked in just yet.

"Breathe through it Jean," Hank coached softly. "I had the professor call in Moira for this one. She's better trained medically for this than I am."

Jean nodded. "Just get this baby out," she breathed.

Unfortunately for Jean, the labour was not as swift as she would have liked. Sure, her baby girl had picked the right day, but not a good hour. It was another six hours before Moira pronounced her dilated enough to push.

"Damnit Logan," Jean said after her first push, relaxing the grip on his hand. They could physically hear the bones clicking back into place.

"I know, Darlin'," Logan answered indulgently, barely wincing as the bones quickly knit back together.

"Focus, Jean, she's almost out," Moira encouraged.

"You are never touching me again," she growled at Logan seconds before she pushed again. Finally, the baby was out and general relief washed through the room. However, Jean's contractions didn't stop.

"There's another one," Jean breathed when another contraction had passed.

"What?" Moira and Logan asked together.

"That irregular heartbeat Hank heard," Jean rationalized, wincing as the others rushed back to her. "One was covering the other and the heartbeats were almost completely in sync. No one could tell."

"Including you," Logan said in awe, bracing himself for Jean's push. "We won't have to pick a name after all."

Jean glared. "We'll never have to pick names again," she shot back as the final push brought their second little girl into the world.

Minutes later, Jean was cradling Michele Ashley Grey in her arms and Logan had been convinced to hold Jane.

"You're a natural," Jean complimented in a whisper so as not to wake the sleeping Michele. Jane seemed to have more energy than her older counterpart and boundless curiosity. Logan met her eyes with awe as Jane's small hand wrapped around Logan's pinkie finger.

"They're beautiful," he whispered over the beeping machines.

Jean smiled. "They are," she agreed with a yawn. Without being asked, Logan careful deposited Jane in one of the basinets and gently took Michele from Jean's arms.

"You need to sleep," he said as he put Michele in the other bed. "I'll watch them."

Jean nodded sleepily. "You know Logan, this father thing… it'll work."

Logan smiled, moving to kiss her forehead. "I love you."

Jean was already asleep.

* * *

She thanked God for maternity leave. With twins, and twins that seemed to enjoy keeping her awake with endless crying, she'd gotten very little sleep. Logan and continued teaching at her urging and wasn't around during the day to help. Not only that, but because of his teaching and need for sleep, she'd taken control of the twins at night. He'd tried to pitch in to help, taking them when he got in from afternoon classes to allow her some time to catch up on sleep, but that wasn't enough. 

"Jean?" Ororo poked her head into Jean and Logan's room to find Jean changing Michele's diaper. Jean smiled tiredly at her best friend.

"Hey Ro."

"You looked exhausted," Ororo remarked.

"Thanks," Jean responded sarcastically.

"You need a break, my friend."

"I need a nap."

"And the difference?"

"A break could mean an extended period of time. A nap, if I'm lucky, is half an hour.

"If you're lucky?"

"Chell and Jane trade off."

"Do you know what sleep is?"

"Not since these two were born," Jean admitted. "I love it though. Having them I mean."

"What about Logan?"

"He teaches and needs the sleep. He takes them when he gets in after afternoon classes."

"Well, I'm going to take these two and you are going to get some decent sleep," Ororo decided, holding up her hand when Jean opened her mouth to protest. "Rogue and I will handle Michele and Jane. We haven't had a good chance with these two since they were born. You need a nap and we want time with our nieces."

With a proposal like that, Jean really couldn't refuse. She finished Michele's diaper and turned with a thankful smile.

"Find Rogue and I'll have them ready to go."

* * *

When Logan stepped into the bedroom to check on Jean and his girls he was surprised to find the room completely silent. He panicked and panicked even more when he checked the cribs and found them empty. 

" Logan?" His murmured name brought his attention to the bed and the tousled redhead curled up under the blankets.

"They're with Ro and Marie," she answered his unspoken panic. His shoulders visibly relaxed and he climbed into the bed beside her.

"Give you a break?"

"Been sleeping all afternoon," she answered.

"All afternoon?"

"This is the first time I've been woken since Michele and Jane left to spend time with Aunt Ro and Aunt Marie," she affirmed.

"Wow," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She cooed appreciatively, stretching against him leisurely.

"You've been alone all afternoon?" he asked unnecessarily, trailing gentle kisses down the side of her face.

" Logan," she murmured half heartedly. "We already have two little girls…"

"We'll be careful," he promised huskily, cutting off further protests with his mouth.

" Logan…"

* * *

It seemed Ororo's decision to lend a helping hand had sparked a trend throughout the mansion. Jean found herself constantly relieved of her two daughters by the mansion's inhabitants and it gave her a reprieve she hadn't had in the first eight months of their lives. She'd had the time to slowly get back to teaching since the 'day care' had stepped up and the girls had started sleeping through the night. 

"Hey Charles," she spoke softly, pushing open the door to the office.

"Jean," he acknowledged, Jane on his lap.

"Michele?"

"Bobby rocked her to sleep half an hour ago," Xavier answered, cocking his head towards the playpen by the window. Sure enough, the mop of red hair spoke of her daughter's presence.

"How were they?" Jean asked, lifting a fidgeting Jane from the professor's lap.

"Angels," he answered. There was still an underlying tension between the two of them from the issues of Phoenix and it was times like these that the tension was palpable.

"Charles, I would appreciate it if you would try to stay out of my head," she spoke softly, not meaning the words to be harsh, just a not-so-subtle warning. Part of her knew the professor's telepathic probe was partially subconscious, out of habit, but since Phoenix she'd been forced to strengthen her mental walls and thus was strong enough to block him out.

"Jean…"

She knew what was coming, the inevitable conversation as to their relationship and his need to check on her. "You held me back, made me struggle with things as an adult that I should have dealt with as I was coming into my abilities," she reprimanded calmly.

"I didn't have a choice," Xavier insisted.

"You didn't have the knowledge," she countered, bouncing a fussing Jane on her hip. "It's hard for you to admit when you don't have the answers."

"You were dangerous," he stressed.

"And I'm not now?" Where Jean had found the inner calm she was currently exhibiting, neither of them would ever know. The points she was throwing at the closest thing she had to a father were long pent up frustrations.

"Jean, you were dangerous. You had no control."

"You never gave me the chance to learn to control it, never taught me how to control it before deciding what was best," Jean pointed out. "We don't know if I could have controlled it or not."

"I stand by my decision."

Jean looked out the window for a few moments, Michele's playpen in the corner of her vision and the comfortable weight of Jane on her hip. "Would you do the same thing to the girls?" she asked, apprehension in her voice.

The professor pondered this for a few moments, watching the now grown women standing before him. He was proud of her, first and foremost, regardless of what had happened. She would always be a daughter to him and as a 'parent', seeing potential danger, he'd acted. The two girls were his family too, but not his direct responsibility.

"You understand the risks involved," he began slowly. "You and Logan are both mutants and you both know Phoenix."

"You're evading the question," Jean snapped impatiently. Then she calmed down and apologized.

"You and Logan are better equipped to deal with it than I was, Jean. I don't believe it would be necessary," he finally said.

"You don't think they'd be that strong?" There was a shred of hope in her voice that he was sad to have to stomp on.

"I believe they will be stronger." He'd never lied to her since he'd met her, mainly because she'd always call him on it, but also out of respect for her. He wasn't about to start now.

"Stronger," Jean breathed, her eyes darting between her two daughters. "Oh Lord."

"We have influence Jean. You, Logan and every other person Michele and Jane come in contact with will have influence on their values, on their choices. I don't believe we will have any problems with either of them," he tried to reassure her.

"What if we do?" Jean asked fearfully.

"We will cross that bridge when we reach it, my dear. Focus on raising your girls," Xavier said calmly. Jean smiled, gathering up trip one of all the children's stuff scattered around the room.

"Thanks for watching Michele and Jane today," she said, settling Jane in the playpen beside her sister.

"Any time, Jean," Xavier replied, knowing their previous conversation was closed by not resolved.

"I'll be back."

* * *

Jean sat with the girls on her bed hat night, her Care Bears spread around them as she marked the latest batch of papers from her grade twelve chemistry class. However, her mind wasn't on the papers at all, it was on Jane and Michele. 

She was Phoenix, the most powerful mutant should she ever fully control and use the immense power she kept locked up and Logan was the Wolverine, powerful in his own right through his animalistic nature. There were dangers within the possible mutations of their children, the potentially volatile mix of the Phoenix and the Wolverine.

"Mama." Jean's head snapped up at the whine amazed at the word and then taking in both girls and the lavender-coloured bear between them.

"Girls," Jean admonished, laughter in her voice at the situation. "Share Bear is for sharing and you're not doing that." She gently extracted the bear from one grip, picking Jane up and bringing her towards her.

"Now, what did you just say?" she asked, rubbing her nose against her daughter's. The little girl giggled, grasping at her mother's face.

"Mama," she giggled again and Jean grinned widely.

"Her first word," Jean jumped slightly at Logan's voice, surprised he could still sneak up on her.

"Yeah," she answered, watching Logan lift Michele and toss her in the air. Michele laughed loudly as her father caught her again.

"They're going to need more room soon," Jean remarked honestly. "Jane's already getting stir crazy sharing a room with us."

"We could turn your old room into a nursery," Logan proposed, cradling Michele against his body and tickling her.

"That's a long way away," Jean protested, letting Jane crawl across the bed again.

"What were you thinkin'?" Logan inquired.

"Remember how we talked about getting a place of our own?" Jean asked in reply, scooping Jane up before she tumbled off the bed.

"Yeah," Logan responded.

"Maybe… maybe that's what we should do."

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Move out of the mansion?"

"The girls are going to need more room, kids their own age, experiences outside of the Institute," Jean tried to explain.

"You don't want them growin' up here where we know they're always protected?"

"Are they? This place is a prime target, Logan, we both know that."

Logan shrugged. "Are they any safer without Ro, Marie, Kitty, Bobby and Chuck near by? You and I are strong, Darlin' but there's only two of us and you've only tapped into the full power of Phoenix a handful of times," he pointed out logically.

"I don't want them to be X-men," Jean responded. "I don't want them to have to face the same things we have."

Logan sighed, knowing he was finally getting to the root of Jean's fears. "That's not our decision to make."

Anger swelled up in the redhead, manifesting itself in the tremors of the bed. "How can you say that? You'd let our children go off to fight in battle?"

"They won't be kids forever, love," he pointed out sagely. "There will come a day when we won't make their decisions because they'll be old enough and trusted enough to make them on their own."

"They're your little girls!"

"That will grow up to be my big girls and eventually women."

The shaking of the bed slowly stopped as Jean calmed down. "How can you be so calm about this?"

"Marie," he answered simply, scooping Jane up in his free arm. "I watch her go on missions because that's the decision she's made."

" Logan…" there was a warning note to Jean's voice.

"We'll talk to Chuck," he proposed. "See if we can find another arrangement."

"They'll grow into the same lives we lead," Jean warned, looking between her daughters. "They'll be fighting for the same cause."

"If they believe in it," Logan countered, setting the girls in their cribs. "They my not agree with what we fight for."

"They learn it."

"They learn tolerance, Jean, not violence." The argument was starting to get on Logan's nerves simply because Jean had believed in what they were fighting for and still did. This sudden fear for two girls that were just starting to talk, mutant or not, was paranoid for her. He settled against the headboard beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his body.

"I love those girls, Jeannie, with all my heart, just like I love you, but if we close them off from this part of life then aren't we cutting them off from parts of us and a family they deserve to know?" he asked softly into her hair.

"I don't want to be responsible for sending them to their deaths," she whispered back. "I don't want my girls dying before me."

Every time Jean's fears about parenting surfaced, Logan had to laugh. He'd expected to feel the compulsion to run and escape from the responsibility of two kids but he'd set eyes on Michele when she'd first been born and felt all of his fears evaporate. The pep-talk from Ororo and Marie the night before their birth had helped too.

Instead, he found himself telling Jean that everything would work out and that their girls would grow up to be their own women with opinions, goals and values. He didn't have time to be afraid for his own parenting.

"They'll be stronger than both of us," he whispered with conviction. "They'll face what we have with ease and grace and win."

"How can you be so sure?"

"They're your daughters," he answered easily. "Your passion and drive are part of their personalities."

"Michele's got your stubborn recklessness," Jean responded with a huge grin.

"And Jane's got your quiet compassion," he countered.

"My compassion and your temper… isn't that an odd mix?"

Logan chuckled. "Is that why they were fighting over the bear?"

"Huh?"

"Knowing what's theirs and keeping it close?"

"Possessiveness… I can see that."

"Mmhmm…"

Cuddled up against him, Jean was starting to drift off to sleep.

"Hey Red?"

"Mmm…"

"We'll be fine."

The conviction in his voice made her believe it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Michele Ashley Grey! Get back here this instant!" The five-year-old redheaded ball of energy halted immediately at the angry tone of her mother's voice. If there was one thing she knew it was that an angry Mommy was not a Mommy to be crossed.

"But Daddy's going to be back any minute," she whined as she stepped back into the bedroom she shared with her sister.

"And you look like a Raggedy Anne doll without your hair brushed," her mother replied, deftly securing Jane's hair into a simple ponytail.

"But Mommy…"

"Sit." Michele obeyed her mother's command, plopping to the chair in front of her.

"Where did Daddy go again?" Jane asked, fidgeting with the end of her t-shirt.

"Brazil."

"That's south, right?" Jane inquired, showing her mother's natural curiosity.

"Check the globe."

"Jean?" The door cracked open and a white-streaked head poked in.

"Aunt Marie! Is Daddy home yet?" Michele asked eagerly, wincing as her exuberance caused the brush to tug on her hair. Marie smiled.

"The plane just double-checked for landing. They should be down any minute." Both girls immediately turned practiced puppy dog eyes on their mother. Jean smiled.

"Go with Aunt Marie," she acquiesced. The girls raced out of the room, grabbing one of Marie's hands on their way out. Jean took a little bit more time, sensing Ororo on her way down the hall.

"Jean, you coming?" That was Ororo. With a large smile, Jean abandoned her straightening up and walked with Ororo down to the plane's hangar.

"You excited?" Ororo inquired unnecessarily as they waited outside the large metal doors.

Jean rolled her eyes. "Logan's been two months in Brazil, 'Ro. What do you think?" she replied with a wide grin. Truer words had never been spoken. Since the birth of Jane and Michele both Jean and Logan had cut back on the number of missions and the length of missions that they took. This Brazil mission had been the longest the family had been separated since Michele and Jane had become part of their lives.

The doors opened slowly and Jean couldn't help feeling like a military wife waiting for her warrior husband to return home. The situations were similar enough to make her shiver.

Bobby was the first one off the plane, scanning the crowd and throwing a smile to Marie before he was attacked by his girlfriend of two years, Kitty. He and Marie had broken up amicably and Bobby had pretty much dated Kitty since.

Remy was next off the plane, winking roguishly at Marie before submitting to Ororo's hug. The two had bonded since he'd become a permanent fixture in the mansion and since he didn't have a significant other – though, not from a lack of trying with Marie – Ororo had taken it upon herself to welcome him home.

Jean watched the jet power down, knowing the last person was the one she was waiting for.

_Logan,_ she sing-songed over the psychic link that had developed and strengthened over the years.

_I'm coming_, he insisted and she could hear the exhaustion in his psychic voice. Sure enough, moments later he emerged from the plane looking absolutely exhausted and haggard. However, his face lit up as Michele and Jane attacked him with hugs and kisses, happy to have their father home again. Jean and Marie hung back, allowing the children to say their hellos before they did.

Logan hugged Marie next and Jean could feel the waves of relief radiating off of him at seeing his family again. Then he faced her and all of his stress lines dissipated. Jean wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him to her body. His arms wrapped strongly around her waist, squeezing her and refusing to let go.

Something, she realized, had disturbed him greatly.

"Hi," she whispered after a moment, wrapping her arms tighter around him.

"Hi back," he answered roughly, pulling her as close as their bodies would allow.

"Mommy! Daddy! Everybody's gone," Michele whined. Jean smiled at her oldest over Logan's shoulder.

"Well if we're here, then that's not everybody, is it?" she teased back.

"We should go," Logan murmured, not moving to let her go. "Chuck's going to want an update."

"I'll take the girls upstairs," Jean agreed, wrapping her arms tighter rather than releasing him.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Jane exclaimed with a smile. Finally, Logan reluctantly pulled away, holding Jean at arms length.

"I'll go to the briefing and then we'll say a proper hello," he promised, a low grumble to his voice. Jean smiled softly.

"I'll meet you upstairs," she agreed. Logan smiled wolfishly at her before crouching to envelop his daughters in another hug, placing a kiss on each of their cheeks.

"Daddy," Michele called shyly, just before his girls left. "I'm glad you're home."

Logan's mouth twitched in a tired smile. "I'm glad to be home, Princess," he replied.

**-as**

Logan hated briefings after missions, especially these long ones when his family was upstairs. Still, it was part of the routine and necessary so Logan figured he'd be able to suck it up for another few minutes.

"The Brotherhood's been gathering global support, from the looks of things," Bobby was saying when Logan zoned back into the conversation.

"In Brazil?" Ororo asked in surprise. "Why?"

"I don't believe dat is de worst of our worries," Remy interjected. "They were mentioning somet'ing 'bout a Phoenix, whatever dat is." As the only one who'd looked dark enough to be a potential Brotherhood member, Remy had been tasked with attending a few of the recruitment meetings. Logan slumped in his seat. Since Phoenix had been scarce at the mansion and the few missions Jean had been on had not involved Remy, the Cajun had no experience with the power that was Phoenix. All eyes were on him to explain.

"Not what," Logan said finally.

"Phoenix is not a weapon?" Remy asked, all ears.

"Could be with the right manipulation. Phoenix is a person, Cajun, not a thing," Logan answered flatly.

"A person? A mutant just comin' in to 'is power?"

"Jean Grey," Logan finally relented.

"Jean? Merde," Remy swore after getting over the shock of the announcement.

"The Brotherhood wants Jean," Ororo stated, her shoulders sagging much like Logan's had. Couldn't the two of them get any happiness for any extended period of time? "How do they know about the Phoenix?"

"Magneto," the professor volunteered. "He knows of the barriers."

"How did he find out they'd broken?" Ororo amended.

"Red's been in battle how many times? It wouldn't be surprisin' if they found out," Logan supplied.

"Magneto knew before that, of Phoenix," Xavier said. "They have met before."

"Does he know she can basically control it?" Ororo asked softly. "That it doesn't take Jean over anymore?"

"It doesn't matter," Logan interrupted, knowing what Ororo had said was true. Phoenix hadn't completely taken over Jean in years. "If he can find the right buttons to push, she'll collapse."

"Like what?" Bobby asked. But Logan didn't feel comfortable delving into Jean's issues, fears and worries.

"What isn't the point," Logan stated, avoiding the question. "Magneto is the master of manipulation."

"Right now the threat is minimal. Talk does not always mean action," Xavier soothed. "Jean is an intelligent woman, we all know that. She knows when something is real and when it isn't."

"So what? We wait, play it by ear?" Bobby asked in surprise. Kitty put a hand on his arm to calm him.

"We don't have a choice," Marie spoke up for the first time. "We can't do anythin' because we don't know what ta expect."

"Jean deserves to know," Ororo brought up.

"And add extra stress to her life?" Marie asked incredulously.

"'Ro's right," Logan replied, startling everyone in the room. "But not right now." All eyes were on him.

"Here she's safe. With her family and friends all around her, she's safe. We have a debriefing meeting at the end of the week right?" All heads nodded.

"We'll tell her then."

**-as**

Jean was childless when he stepped into their bedroom, reading. He crawled up beside her as she replaced her bookmark and closed the book.

"That bad, huh?" she asked rhetorically as he pillowed his head on her chest.

"I'm glad to be home," he answered, rolling on top of her fully and settling his weight comfortably against hers.

"Hiya stranger," she whispered when he stopped moving, her eyes wandering all over his face, checking for bruises she knew wouldn't be there.

"Hiya back," he murmured, kissing her soundly.

"I missed you," she breathed when they broke away.

"Mmm…" Logan managed, diving down to kiss her again. Eventually they broke apart and Logan buried his face in her neck.

"We did it, you know," she said softly after their breathing had calmed.

"Did what?"

"You were gone for two months," she prompted. "We're all still here."

"I never believed you wouldn't be," Logan responded.

"Could we do it again?" Jean asked softly, wiggling against the stubble on her neck.

"Do we have to?" Logan asked, looking up in alarm.

Jean giggled. "Not now, we don't," she promised. "But we might have to in the future."

"Can we cross that bridge when we get there?" Logan groaned. "I want to enjoy bein' home first."

Jean giggled again, pulling his head up to hers. "Sounds good."

**-as**

Strategy meetings were kept to the senior members of the X-men and consequently the senior members of the Institute's staff. Xavier, Jean, Logan, Hank and Ororo sat around the table in the War Room, ready to discuss not only the growing unrest in the country's mutant population, but also any school issues that popped up.

"We're going to start with a quick recap," Ororo started, as team leader the one charged with the opening to the meeting. "The Brotherhood's been gaining global strength."

"That would scare me if I was surprised," Jean quipped, having been the only member not present at the briefing. "Magneto strikes me as the type to try whatever it takes to get what he wants."

"What was your first clue?" Logan teased, turning serious immediately after. "We've still got ourselves a few problems."

Jean raised an eyebrow at him in mock surprise. "Really?"

"He wants you."

Jean had no response to that.

"I would have taken a more subtle approach," Ororo chastised, though the smile she shot Logan also softened the cutting remark.

Jean sagged back in her chair, the first sign of reaction she'd given. "I guess we should have known."

"He's never outright pursued a mutant, Jean. I don't believe you are in any immediate danger," Xavier stated calmly, the voice of reason.

"We're not going to step up on any sort of security either," Ororo added. "Quite frankly, we don't see the point since you're pretty good at taking care of yourself."

"And what about you guys?" Jean asked, thinking, as usual, outside the box. "If he's willing to do whatever it takes to get followers, wouldn't that ring true for his way of roping me into his schemes?"

"I do not believe we are in any more danger, Jean. The knowledge that it is possible is enough," the professor answered, still as calm as ever.

_Easy for you to say_, Jean thought to herself, knowing her shields were up and Xavier couldn't hear, _you don't have children who rely on you_.

For at the end of the day, that was where Jean's priority was. The idea that someone would be more than willing to do things to her little girls in order to gain her cooperation was absurd to most, but to Jean, it would fall into the category of a hellish day. This was the reason she'd wanted out after Michele and Jane were born. They didn't deserve to be wrapped up in this. And Jean didn't see the point in mentioning the danger to two children who wouldn't understand anyway.

"That's a general 'stay on your guard'." Logan stated unnecessarily. "Magneto's not one to cut to the chase, so let's not give him any openings."

It was the fastest Strategy meeting to date, barring those that had been cancelled for lack of information. The room emptied fairly quickly, each member having something to do. Logan, however, hung back, something Xavier noticed.

"Is there something wrong?"

Logan sighed, unsure of if he was willing to confide in the same man that had almost become the bane of Jean's existence. "I saw somethin' in Brazil that I wasn't impressed with Chuck," he finally decided on.

"And you're not sure if you should be telling Jean?" Xavier guessed, the information written on Logan's face rather than his mind.

"I don't want to bug her any more than she is, especially since I just got back."

"What is it?"

"There was one meetin' all of us managed to sneak in on. It wasn't the meetin' itself that was disturbin' but the people at the front of the room, and trust me, Chuck, I double checked."

"Who did you see?"

"I coulda sworn I saw Scooter up front."

Logan didn't need telepathy to see the surprise on Xavier's face, as subtle as it was. It was a piece of news no one had ever believed they'd be hearing. Scott? Their fearless leader and boy nextdoor on the Brotherhood's side? That just didn't make sense.

"Are you sure?"

"Look, I'm not sure, okay? I just… I was sure it was him when I was there, but we know Golden Boy wouldn't do that."

Xavier shrugged slightly, the first time Logan had ever seen him do such. "One can never be sure," was all he said before leaving Logan to ponder.

Logan fell to pacing, the only wandering he'd allowed himself to do with the exception of the Big Oak in the forest on the edge of the property since the twins were born.

_He didn't even help me decide whether or not I was going to tell Jeannie_, Logan thought to himself as he too left the War Room behind.

**-as**

_**I am so incredibly sorry this took so long to get up. I haven't had any internet access and I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to fit everything into 24 hours. I'll try and get 5 up by Thursday.**_

_**To everyone who's still with me, you guys are so patient and so awesome and I love you all. I hope you're enjoying this, no matter how long it's taking me to get it up. I promise it's almost all written, I just haven't either typed it, or separated it.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jane adored thunderstorms and had since she could remember. Usually she and her dad would curl up with hot cocoa in front of a window, usually the window seat in her parents' room, and watch the rain pour down. This time, however, Logan was teaching through the storm and Jane sat in the living room, watching the torrential down pour, a smile playing about her face. She was startled out of the storm by a loud pounding on the large oak front doors in the room on her left. Since everyone else was busy in meetings and classes, Jane took it upon herself to answer the door.

It wasn't the first time she'd done it and her inherited telekinetic ability had been developing at a very rapid rate. While in the mansion, her parents didn't worry about her much. Michele, who had fallen asleep on her sister's lap, woke with her sister's movement.

"Door," Jane answered simply. Michele nodded and followed her twin. It took their combined strength and some telekinetics to get the door open.

"Can we help you?" Michele asked, standing side by side with Jane. The twins took in the soaked stranger's brown hair and ruby glasses.

"Are you new students?"

Jane didn't like the hard edge to the man's voice but caught herself before she said anything. "Technically, we're not old enough to start school," she answered.

"Oh," he replied, obviously confused.

"Jay? Where are you?"

"At the door, Aunt Marie," Jane called back.

"What are you… Scott?"

"Rogue."

Marie was torn between welcoming him back and throttling him for leaving. "What are you doing here?" she finally settled on. "Not that I'm not happy to see you," she amended.

"I'm coming home," Scott answered.

"Scott?" Michele asked Marie. "You know him?"

"He was one of my teachers," Marie answered, handing a steaming mug to Jane.

Michele screwed up her nose childishly. "You're old," she said bluntly to Scott.

"Michele!" Marie scolded, but Scott was chuckling. Michele and Jane exchanged a slightly confused look at the complete turn around in the man's attitude. Where his voice had held a hard edge before, it was now calm and almost happy.

"Come in, Scott," Marie finally invited. "Is your stuff in the car?"

"Yeah." Marie exchanged a look with Michele and Jane before leading Scott away for a warm beverage.

"Aunt Marie," Jane called just as they were about to turn the corner to the kitchen. The adults turned.

"Rogue, this is Emma Frost," Scott spoke up. "She made the trip with me."

Marie smiled warmly, unperturbed when Emma took a minute to return the gesture. "Scott and I were going to get him something to drink to warm him up," Marie offered. "You're welcome to join us."

"We can't just leave our bags in the car," Emma protested. Marie watched Jane and Michele exchange a disgusted look and shiver amidst all of Emma and Scott's bags.

"Let us know where you want them," Michele spoke up.

"We'll get them later…" Scott started, awed at the presence of his stuff.

"The closed door," Marie told the twins, "Just down the hall from your room." Smiles brightened the twins' faces.

"Okay," they said in unison as Marie, Scott and Emma made their way to the kitchen.

**-as**

"Jean," Marie exclaimed, startled. "I thought you had class."

"Classes got out a few minutes ago," Jean answered, turning to face Marie from the counter. Then her eyes settled on Marie's companions.

"Hi Jean," Scott said, his eyes taking her in behind his glasses.

"Scott, how are you?"

"Wet," he answered with a chuckle. Jean managed a smile.

"I can see that," she replied. "I was just making PB and J. You want one?"

"I'll pass," he answered, watching Jean set out five sandwiches and three mugs.

"Thunderstorm means sandwiches and hot chocolate at a window," Marie explained, picking up one of the sandwiches.

"That's new," Scott remarked.

"Jane started it," Marie replied with an affectionate laugh. "It's hard to tear her away from a window during a storm." As if on cue, Michele and Jane charged into the kitchen, huge grins on their faces.

"Aunt Ro says we can eat in the conservatory if we're careful," Jane squealed excitedly.

"Did you say thank you?" Jean asked, presenting each girl with a sandwich and Michele with her own hot chocolate mug. Scott as surprised at the motherly tone in Jean's voice, especially with students. She'd never been so matronly with the Institute's residents before.

"Can we have cookies too?" Jane asked sweetly, carefully balancing her plate on one hand. Jean shot her a look.

"Two hands on your plate, young lady," she scolded and Jane immediately gripped the rim of her plate with her empty hand.

"Please?" Michele added, her lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"I'll bring them with me," Jean relented. "You go get everything ready." Michele and Jane scampered off, huge grins on their faces.

"Don't run in the halls," she called after them before turning back to Scott and Emma.

"What about you guys? Tea? Coffee? I think Bobby left some chicken noodle soup from the last batch," Jean offered.

"Your soup?" Scott asked, momentarily forgetting the twin redheads.

"It never seems to last long anymore," Jean answered, withdrawing the tin from the freezer. Scott turned to Emma.

"Why don't you get dry and changed," he offered. "I'll bring up the soup when it's done." It didn't take much persuasion to make Emma leave. Marie went with her to show the way, leaving Scott and Jean in the kitchen.

"You look good, Jean," he remarked softly as she plunked the frozen soup into a pot on the rapidly heating stove.

She smiled. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself."

"Everything's good?" he asked, coming to stand beside her at the stove.

"Better," Jean admitted with a full-blown smile.

"So you and…" Suddenly, the tension in the room grew.

"Logan and I are still together," she affirmed.

Scott's gaze dropped to that all-important finger. "But you're not…"

Jean shook her head. "We barely find time to make our family work as it is," she admitted with a laugh. "We'd never have time to get married."

"Family?" The astonishment in Scott's voice was a tangible thing, one that made Jean laugh inwardly.

"Jean?" Logan chose that minute to poke his head in. Jean shot him a look before he could pick a fight.

"I'll be there in a minute, Logan," she promised. "Our stuff is on the island."

"The girls are getting antsy," he warned.

Jean graced Logan with an indulgent smile. "I'll be there in five minutes Logan. Take some cookies with you."

"Those girls are yours?" Scott asked in bewilderment once Logan had left.

Jean laughed out loud. "You couldn't tell? People have always mentioned how much like us those two are."

"I didn't…" Scott stuttered.

"Michele and Jane," Jean spoke softly. "They turn six in a month."

"You have twin girls." This was a development he had not been ready for in the slightest. He looked over Jean where she was stirring the soup, bowls and spoons floating from cupboards and drawers. "Six years old."

"Yeah. Tea?"

"Sure," he managed, still stunned. Then he was treated to another shock as Jean withdrew the teakettle, mugs, tea bags and spoons with her mind, filling the kettle with water and placing it on the stove without moving from the soup.

"That's impressive," he complimented.

Jean grinned. "With twin girls I had to be able to multitask," she explained with a shrug.

"How did you manage it?" Scott inquired.

"I had a lot of help."

"From _him_?"

"And others. Contrary to what you may think Logan loves these girls and he's been there for them," Jean defended.

"Through what?" Scott scoffed.

"He was there for their first words, their first steps, the first time Jane floated a toy into her playpen, the first time Michele went tearing down the hall because she'd heard Marie and Ro coming back after a mission…" Jean listed off, ladling soup into the bowls. "I know you don't like him, Scott, but he's been a great father to those girls."

"And you?"

"I can say with honest conviction that I'm happy," she answered, wiping her hands on a nearby towel. "What I have is exactly what I want."

"Without the marriage?"

"I've learned that marriage is just a formality," Jean said, facing him. "I don't need rings to remind me of who loves me and who I love." She picked up her sandwich plate and mug. "Trays are where they've always been."

At the door she stopped and turned. "Regardless of what happened, welcome back."

**-as**

"I don't like him," Jean heard one of her daughters say petulantly.

"Neither to I, Chell, but Mommy does, so we're going to be nice," she heard Logan respond as she stepped into the doorway. There sat her family, Marie included, ready to eat. Jane's head was back, watching the pouring rain, hot chocolate cupped between her hands.

"Mommy, do we have to be nice?" Michele whined, turning to face her mother. Jean smiled, knowing seventy-five percent of the room was aware of her presence long before she reached earshot.

"You know it's Grandpa Charles' rule that we're nice to every one under his roof," Jean countered. Logan grinned at her.

_You don't care,_ he challenged psychically. _You'd get a kick out of watching these two rip into Scooter_.

_Not here, Logan_. Jean warned.

"But Grandpa will listen to you," Jane pointed out smartly.

"And I listen to Grandpa," Jean answered, taking a seat between Logan and Michele.

_I love you,_ Logan projected, sensing her need to be secure in her family again. She smiled widely, the fear and worry dissipating quickly.

_I know. I love you, too,_ she answered, briefly squeezing his thigh. Then she turned to her daughters.

"Eat," she commanded.

"Jean?" Marie asked after a while of quiet munching. "Does the professor know?"

"He'll call a meeting after he talks to Scott," Jean assured the younger woman. "Until then, we enjoy lunch and the storm."

**-as**

"She has twin daughters," Scott seethed as he entered his old room.

"And?" Emma responded coolly. "How is that going to change anything?"

"She's at home here. There is no way it'll be as easy to manipulate her into leaving."

"She still has fears and insecurities, right?" Emma asked carefully, taking a soup bowl from the tray Scott held out to her.

"Precious Wolverine seems to have her on pretty even ground," Scott retorted, spitting Logan's name like it was milk well past it's best before date.

"So we'll take away her foundation," Emma proposed swiftly. "Those she holds dear."

"Kidnap them all?"

"Why not? Magneto wants her on our side. We were told to do whatever we had to, to make sure she was with us," she reminded him. "Remember your last task here and how you couldn't go through with it? You need to make a change."

"Don't remind me," he snapped, tearing off his soaked shirt. "And don't change the subject. My failures are not on trial here."

"Kidnapping two little girls and a man made of metal is not going to be a difficult task," Emma scoffed.

"All of whom hate my guts, and you underestimate the people here."

"They're little girls!"

"And their father believes I'm Satan! I can't believe she… she…" Scott groaned, dropping to the bed.

"You're being melodramatic," Emma scolded, shifting over to make room for him.

"I'm being realistic. Plus, what about their mutations?"

"They're what, six?"

"Five."

"They don't have a mutation yet," Emma replied easily.

"She was listing off things they'd done! One floated a toy into her playpen and the other one has enhanced hearing."

"Mutations manifest during puberty Summers."

"They're children of two known mutants," he countered smoothly, falling into the familiar taste of his ex's soup.

"You're making excuses," Emma shot back. "If you were too chicken to do this you shouldn't have started."

"I'm not chicken," he defended.

"Plus, remember what Magneto promised you when we had her," Emma said, her tone seductive as she set aside her soup bowl.

"No Wolverine in my way," Scott growled, sounding remarkably like an angry Logan.

"Exactly. You get Miss Grey all to your little self," she murmured, taking his bowl and stowing it safely before straddling him.

"She has kids, things that tie them together," he tried, his hands coming up to frame her hips.

"You have the past, the things she knows best," Emma countered, leaning towards him.

"We'll get her on our side, you'll see."

**-as**

**_Apparently the dividers aren't working or this would have nice neat lines, as per usual. I hope you guys enjoyed this and now that I'm back with constant internet access and working my sorry little bum off, you should have 6-8 in the next 2 weeks. _**

**_Thanks to those who have reviewed and reviewed the last one especially. It's nice to know you guys are still with me._**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

While Jean, Logan and Scott now lived under the same roof, they managed to do an extremely job of avoiding each other. At least, Jean avoided Scott, Scott avoided Logan, and Logan – at Jean's begging – avoided Scott. That was, until Scott cornered Jean in her own classroom after a particularly trying class. She'd decided to sit for just a moment, to regain her equilibrium before taking on any other member of the mansion, completely forgetting Scott had been trying to talk to her.

"Jean?"

She couldn't stop the wince. "Hi Scott."

He entered carefully, still slightly frightened of her since the Phoenix incident before he'd left ten years ago. "Are you busy?"

Part of her had wanted to answer the affirmative, but the bigger part of her was against lying. "Just the end of a difficult class," she answered, compromising to suit her heart and her conscience.

"You still have them?"

"Sorry?"

"I would have thought the kids would be used to you back in class again."

Jean smiled. "Most of those kids have moved on and graduated, Scott. You forget how long it's been since you've been back here." It wasn't meant as a jab in the slightest. She'd understood his reasons for leaving and hadn't held it over his head at all. She had been forced to come to terms with it herself and the fact that she could pretty much blame herself for his decision.

"They aren't all new kids," he responded, giving her one of his boy-next-door grins. Years ago, she would have melted at that smile.

"Not to the school but to the senior science program. I teach two classes," she reminded him, slowly beginning to gather her pages.

Scott sat on one of the front desks. "Tell me about your daughters."

That made Jean light up immediately, as it inevitably did. "They're… they're everything I could've wanted in my children," she admitted, hoping he could deal with the brutal honesty. "They're my life."

Scott's face contorted in confusion. "Your life?"

"My priority," Jean corrected. "Their well-being comes first."

"So you don't go out on missions anymore?"

"Sometimes, but Logan and I promised the girls years ago that one of us would always be home, just in case."

"You don't go?"

"Logan is usually the one that leaves. He gets restless here and missions are something like wandering to him. It's the least I can do for tying him down." The last was said with affection, letting Scott know neither of them resented the other for the situation they were in now.

"So you don't get a chance to exercise your abilities?"

Jean shot him a suspicious look over the top of her glasses. "I do in the Danger Room and outside, places where I know people won't be hurt by them. And I do go on missions, just not as often. What's with the obsession?"

"Just curious," Scott replied, though Jean was pretty sure, by the speed in which he'd answered, that wasn't exactly the truth. "And the girls like it here?"

"They know nothing else," Jean pointed out, "but they do enjoy always being around people that spoil them rotten."

"You're lucky."

"I tell myself that every time I see them," she responded with a soft smile. "But what about you? You haven't done too badly for yourself."

"That is true," he answered.

"And you an Emma? That must be serious."

"Something like that," he responded vaguely.

"I'm glad," she told him honestly. "You deserve someone."

Scott smiled slightly. "We get along." _She's not you._

Jean wanted to roll her eyes or slap him or something. She'd been happy he'd moved on, ecstatic even, since it meant he wasn't hung up on her anymore. Apparently, that wasn't the case. "You get along?" she decided on instead, teasing him.

"We have our moments," Scott replied easily. _So many more than you and I did._

"Every relationship does," she told him reassuringly.

"Even yours?"

Jean laughed. "Are you kidding me? The mansion cleans out when Logan and I get into a row. That, and there's usually something broken by the end of it."

"They get violent?" Scott asked, concerned.

"We get _angry_ Scott. That usually results in the loss of some composure," Jean replied, as if explaining it to a small child.

"He doesn't…"

"Logan would never hit me, Scott. The things that are broken are objects because I've lost control," she told him solemnly, locking her eyes on him to make sure he understood. Even without Scott for ten years, the jealousy was not something new for her to deal with.

"You still lose control?" Again, he seemed intrigued.

"Not often," Jean revealed. "Phoenix and I had a chat and we came to an understanding."

Scott chuckled slightly at her choice of wording. "Had a chat?"

Even Jean chuckled. "The professor helped."

"You let him?"

"It was better than barriers, Scott," she admonished softly. "That was the last thing I wanted."

"So you have control then?"

"We've never fully tested it," she said slowly, suspiciously. "But to the extent of our knowledge, yes."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, like he was making a mental note, before recovering. "That's impressive."

"Thanks. Why all the interest? You never cared before."

"I did," he protested after a moment, too much of a hesitation and not enough in his shield so Jean felt his deer-caught-in-headlights mental waves.

"You were afraid of me," she parried, finally gathering up her pages and starting to head back to her room, Logan and the girls.

"That doesn't mean I'm not interested," he insisted.

Jean smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Scott, a lot of things have changed since you made the decision to leave and a lot of things we thought you cared about we had to re-evaluate. You never liked Phoenix and you were never comfortable with the power I wielded. I know that."

She didn't give him a chance to reply before leaving.

* * *

Jean took a deep breath before opening the greenhouse door later that week. She needed to talk to someone badly, and Logan was not going to be her best choice. Her conversation with Scott had disturbed her, his unhealthy fixation on her mutation even more so. 

"Ro?"

"Hey Jean," Ororo called back, popping her head out from behind one of the larger trees. "You wanted to talk."

"Scott caught me in my classroom."

It was all she had to say before Ororo was at her side. "And?"

"It was… odd," Jean admitted.

"Odd?" Ororo questioned, guiding Jean to two wicker chairs she kept set up in the greenhouse.

"We started talking about my classes, then the girls… then my control and Phoenix," Jean tried to explain.

"What?"

"That was what got me too. He's never taken any interest in Phoenix and then it was suddenly all he wanted to talk about."

"Why? That doesn't make any sense."

"That's what I thought," Jean exploded, jumping from her seat and pacing in front of her white-haired friend. To Ororo, Jean looked like a caged animal, like Logan when he was restless.

"It doesn't make any sense. Why does he suddenly care about what control I have, if the barriers exist or not?"

"You know something was wrong," Ororo pointed out. "Did you think he would be different now that he's back?"

"A girl can dream, right? I figured he thought about everything and about how he'd acted."

"Did you expect him to accept everything?"

"Goodness no!" Jean exclaimed. "He will never accept the relationship between me and Logan and I never once thought he would have accepted Phoenix. That's now what's bugging me. It's the questions and the constant pressure about Phoenix that threw me. I didn't like them."

"Why?" Ororo inquired, trying to understand.

"Something… it wasn't right. He skipped questions all about my control, never about how it affected me or my family."

Ororo smiled slightly. "I think you've been spending too much time with Logan and his suspicions."

Jean sighed, finally able to sit down again. "Ro, I hope you're right."

* * *

It hadn't been more than a week since her conversation with Ororo when Scott managed to corner her again, this time in the lab. She'd continued her research, Hank by her side, and spent some of her free periods in the lab. Apparently, he'd found out her schedule. 

"Jean, good. I wanted to talk to you."

Jean, her back turned to him, closed her eyes and groaned mentally. She wasn't sure she was over the interrogation of two weeks prior. "Really?" she settled on.

He stopped in the middle of the lab, an action Jean sensed. "I remember all the time you used to spend down here and how we'd have the hardest time trying to get you out," he said a laugh in his voice.

Jean couldn't stop a smile from lifting the corner of her mouth. "It wasn't until Michele and Jane were born that I kicked the habit," she admitted.

"You spent time down here pregnant?"

Jean laughed. "Like anyone was going to stop me. Logan found me down here asleep a million times. That's why the couch is down here."

"He came looking for you?"

"Scott," Jean warned. "Don't start with this."

"With what?"

"You don't like him, I understand that, but that's no reason for you to tear him apart in front of me."

"Jean, you know he's not right…"

"You don't think so," Jean snapped. "You don't think he loves me, you don't think he cares, and you don't think I should be with him. I get it, we don't have to talk about it."

"You know he's going to throw you aside when he's done."

"That's your problem, Scott. You don't know him."

"Do you? Do you know what he's been through, do you know what he's like when he's not in control?"

"Do you?" she shot back. "Can you honestly say you know him? Damnit Scott, you don't know anything!"

"I know he'll run scared at the first big problem. I know he'll leave you with two kids if he has to in order to save his own hide."

She whirled on him, anger flashing in her green eyes. "How dare you," she said, the words coming out as a feral growl, Phoenix lingering just behind her eyes. "You do not have the right to say anything, do anything or even think. You don't know anything about this, nothing. You have no idea what we've been though, you have no idea how often we may or may not fight and you have no idea how our relationship works. You can't just waltz back in here and think you still own this place. I have news for you, Scott. We moved on without you. We made this school work without you. We're fine without you."

"And he's my replacement?" Scott spat.

"He's not a replacement, you idiot," Jean exploded. "He's another part of our team, like you were, like Rogue and Shadowcat and Iceman are now. You left. Period. Logan didn't take over your leadership, Ro did and she's doing a damn good job. You do _not_ have the right to attack him, when he's generally an innocent party in it all."

She stormed out of the lab, inwardly wincing when glass broke in the wake of her anger.

* * *

Logan could smell her anger from four floors above. He'd known Scott's presence was not going to bode well for the redheaded telepath, but he'd hoped Scott would have the intelligence to keep from provoking her. Apparently, he'd been wrong. He heard her mumbling from the end of the hall and leaned against the window where he was standing, knowing she would pass him on her way.

"Don't even try," she growled, her mental senses on high alert from her anger.

Logan said nothing. Instead, he simply pulled her to him, fitting her body to his as it did every time. "I wasn't planning on it."

Jean sighed in his embrace, already feeling her emotions calm down purely from being in his arms. "Why does he want to do this to me? I thought he wanted me to be happy."

"Darlin' he only wants happiness if it's with him."

Jean's mouth twitched in a smile. The comment had been so bluntly Logan. "I love you, you know."

"I do. And you know and you can always trust, that I love you."

This time, she really did smile. "Thank you."

* * *

"Mommy!" Jane screamed, tearing into Jean's grade twelve biology class. Jean jumped, dropping her chalk, which shattered into pieces on the floor. Jean scooped up her daughter securely, holding the crying child close to her body.

"Jane, honey, what's wrong?" Jean asked, rubbing a hand up and down her back.

"Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," was all Jane would say, her arms locked around Jean in a death grip.

Jean faced her class. "Read and take notes on the rest of the chapter. Class dismissed."

The students were out of the room like shots, leaving Jean with the sole focus of calming down her youngest daughter.

"Sweetheart, you're okay," Jean said softly, her hand still travelling the expanse of the small back. Jane, however, shook her head.

"You're not all right?" Jean asked, confused, but Jane couldn't seem to speak.

"I'm going to look, okay?" But before Jean could muster the concentration needed to see what had her daughter so upset, Jane lost her tenuous control on her composure and gave three particularly large sobs before pushing away from Jean and throwing up on the floor.

"Jane!" Jean exclaimed in surprise, terrified for her daughter. Then something hit her.

"Where's Michele?" she questioned anxiously. As the youngest children in the mansion it was rare to find one Grey child without the other close by. The question made Jane sob, if possible, even harder.

"Jane?" When Jane didn't answer, Jean reached out with her mind to try and find the familiar mental signature of her other daughter. She confined her search to the mansion and its grounds, knowing it would be better for her to seek help before going off of the grounds. She started to panic when she couldn't find it.

_Jeannie?_ In her haste, she'd forgotten about the link she shared with Logan and its sensitivity.

_Michele's missing,_ she said promptly, trying to keep herself calm for her child, for Logan and for her own sanity.

_What?_

_She's not in the mansion and Jane can't stop crying. I'm going to find the professor._

_I'll meet you at Cerebro,_ Logan answered, knowing without having to ask what finding the professor meant.

It didn't take Jean long to locate the professor and explain her issue to him. Jane was still sobbing into her neck when she and the professor met with Logan outside of the cavernous room that held the professor's pride and joy.

"She may not even be in the mansion," Jean said softly before Xavier wheeled into Cerebro, her first tear leaking through the iron façade.

Xavier laid a gentle hand on her arm. "We will find her, Jean," he promised.

"I hope so."

Second after the doors to Cerebro closed behind Xavier, Ororo came racing down the hall.

"Have you seen Marie?"

The mention of her Aunt's name had Jane sobbing again and Jean could only guess what that meant. "She's with Michele," Jean managed, her voice hitching.

Ororo, the adrenaline of fear starting to pump through her veins, glanced between Logan and Jean. "And where is Michele?"

"We don't know," Logan growled.

"You don't…"

"Marie was looking after them this afternoon," Jean recalled, her hand still trying to soothe Jane, especially since the table just down the hall had started to shake.

"How is Jane here?"

"When Chuck finds Michele, I'm sure we'll have a lot of answers," Logan grumbled.

"What are you thinking?" Jean asked, leaning into him for support and comfort.

"Janey's got a whiff of Scooter on her," Logan said lowly.

"Scott?" Ororo asked concerned. "That doesn't make any sense."

"They… they could… b-be… l-l-long g-gone," Jane managed to stutter.

"Who, Jane?" Jean asked softly.

"I… I hid…. I should have…s-saved her," Jane answered, her lower lip shaking.

"From what, Angel?" Logan asked, softening his growl for his daughter.

Before Jane could answer Xavier wheeled out of Cerebro.

"Did you find her?" Jean asked immediately.

"I did," Xavier replied tiredly. "With Marie."

"Where are they?" Logan growled.

"Going west," Xavier answered.

"Marie kidnapped our daughter?" Jean asked in surprise.

"Mr Summers and Miss Frost did," Jane finally said, stringing her first sentence together smoothly.

"Professor?" Ororo looked to the older man for confirmation.

"I'm afraid that could be true. Scott and Miss Frost are in the car with them."

"I don't understand," Jean said softly. "What's going on?"

"Golden Boy's workin' for the Brotherhood," Logan growled menacingly. "I knew we couldn't trust him."

"How long? For what? Why did he come here?" Jean rattled off questions. "Why did he take Marie? Why did he take our daughter?"

"I wish I could answer those questions, Red," Logan replied, wrapping his arms around what was left of his family. "All I knew was that we couldn't trust him any more."

"None of this makes any sense," Ororo said rationally. "How the hell does Scott go from our leader to our enemy?"

"He doesn't get what he wants," Logan answered easily. "He finds somethin' he believes is better, a better offer, a better life… somethin' he didn't have while he was here."

"Are you saying that it's my fault?" Jean asked fearfully.

"Darlin' o' course not. I'm sayin' Scooter's screwed up, has been for a while."

" Korea," Jean supplied, still remembering that conversation with Logan and her mental note to check the mission logs. The others were surprised she remembered it.

"Is that when he…?" Ororo began, but couldn't finish the question.

"We know next to nothing right now," Xavier told them. "We'll call a meeting, see what we can understand from Jane's accounts and move from there."

"They could be killin' our Chell and you want to have a meetin'!"

" Logan, calm down, Charles is right," Jean said soothingly. "We can't do anything until we know what happened, and until Jane calms down, we know nothing."

"How can you be so calm?" he growled at her.

Jean was unaffected. "I have to be," she whispered. "I don't have a choice."

"What?"

Jean rolled her eyes. _Jane blames herself,_ she reminded him. _Calming her down is my first priority._

Logan continued to growl slightly under his breath, but tried valiantly to make sure the animal didn't escape. Instead, he pulled his remaining family closer, hugging Jane and Jean tightly to him.

"Take her upstairs, settle her down," Xavier suggested quietly. "Ororo and I will see what we can find in the mean time. Let me know when you've calmed her down enough for her to talk."

Jean and Logan nodded and they all parted ways.

* * *

"How can he do this?" Jean asked rhetorically. "After everything…"

"That's exactly how he can do it," Logan said, pacing with Jane cuddled against his shoulder at the foot of their bed. He was trying to settle Jane down enough to talk but the small five-year-old seemed to have an endless well of tears.

"What do you mean?"

"He had everythin'," Logan began slowly. "He had power, he had the love of his life, he had prestige."

"Then I died?" Jean asked, part of her understanding and part of her still confused as to where Logan was taking this.

"He was a mess when you died, Darlin'," Logan agreed. "We couldn't get him out of your room for six months."

"What?"

"You were his life," Logan stated bluntly. "He knew nothin' but you."

"He knew Ororo, his life at the mansion," Jean protested, gently taking a slowly calming Jane out of her father's arms.

"You were his life at the mansion, Jeannie," Logan repeated.

"But… I'm not sure that makes sense."

"When you died, Scooter figured he'd lost everythin'. When we finally pulled him out of his funk completely, Chuck sent him and me gallivantin' across the world to Korea."

"Where everything fell apart."

"Red, I don't know what happened up there, but I do know it was somethin' wrong. I could smell it on him and you could see it in the way he held himself. All of a sudden, he owned the world again and took over the leadership position he'd forfeited in his depression."

"Big words," she teased softly, her heart not in the words.

"Somethin' screwed him over," Logan responded.

"Something that gave him better than what he had," Jean added.

"In all honesty, he was… weird," Logan said, lacking a better word. "Then when you came back he just got weirder."

Jean took no offence to that in the slightest, though did find minimal amusement in his wording. He'd been spending way too much time around the twins. "I think I messed up something he was planning," she told Logan. "Something big."

"_He_ was plannin'? Or somethin' he was ordered to do?"

"That's the question," Jean agreed, smoothing hair back from Jane's still teary face. She'd fallen asleep on her mother's shoulder having cried herself out. "What kind of evil is he?"

"She's asleep," Logan said carefully, nodding to the small body. "We can take a look."

Jean sighed. She'd considered doing such a thing, going into Jane's mind while she slept so technically her little daughter wouldn't have to relive the experience, but had pulled back. It was almost an invasion of privacy, something against the telepathic code of conduct.

"It's an invasion of privacy," she whispered unconvincingly.

"Then she'll have to tell us," Logan reminded her. "She'll have to live through it."

"That's not fair," she tried again.

"I'll tell you."

* * *

**_I hope you liked this, especially since, to me, it feels a little rushed. Still, the point of this is not the relationship between Jean and Scott but the plot has everything to do with what Scott's evilness is going to mean. _**

**_Special mention to samantha w. since I couldn't actually write a reply to your review. Scott's going to stay evil for a little while yet. I'm glad you enjoy him like that!_**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

Apparently, Jane wasn't as asleep as her parents thought.

"Honey…" Jean started, wanting to protect her daughter from any more pain the events had caused.

"I heard Grandpa, Mommy," the five-year-old stated matter-of-factly. "There isn't much you can do until you know what happened."

"It's a pretty brave thing to do," Logan agreed, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, where he was more at eye level with Jean and Jane.

" Logan!" Jean admonished.

"We were in our room, minding our own business, playing with Aunt Marie and then Mr Summers and Miss Frost came in to offer us ice cream. Michele wanted some and Aunt Marie said it was okay so we went to get our coats, but I couldn't find mine so I took longer and when I poked my head out to see if Aunt Marie had seen it, I saw her lying on the ground and Michele was in Miss Frost's arms not moving so I hid. They were arguing too over what to take with them, but I stayed hidden and quiet, just like Daddy told me to. Then they left and they took Aunt Marie and Chell, with them," Jane spewed getting it out as fast as she could, tears blurring her vision again.

"You did the right thing, Angel," Logan encouraged as Jean pushed hair away from the anguished face.

"I could have helped her," Jane countered.

"No, sweetheart, your father's right," Jean assured. "Can you answer a few questions?"

Jane waited a minute, checking her composure, then nodded.

"Do you remember anything that Mr Summers or Miss Frost said?" Jean asked.

"Something about a magnet needing bait to catch a phoenix. And needing to be careful about a wolverine, but I didn't understand."

Jean and Logan certainly did.

"Do you remember anything else?" Logan asked in a soft rumble. Jane shook her head.

"I waited until I was sure they'd gone before going to Mommy." She looked doubtfully between both parents. "Will that help you find Michele and Aunt Marie?"

"Yeah, Jane. You've helped a lot," Jean promised.

"What happens now?"

"Now we get Michele and Marie back," Logan said, already popping his knuckles.

"How?" Jane inquired curiously, watching her mother place a gentle hand on her father's to stop the popping.

"We have to talk to Grandpa and Aunt Ro about it," Jean replied carefully, not wanting to tell her daughter about the violence that would most likely occur.

"Are you going to get hurt?" Jane asked, sliding carefully out of Jean's lap to sit between her mother and her father's back.

Logan moved up until she was sandwiched between him and Jean. "We hope not," he told her honestly.

" Logan!" Jean exclaimed sharply.

"We can't baby them forever, Jean," he replied, turning back to Jane. "We'll be really careful."

"But you've both been hurt before," Jane said smartly.

"It comes with what we do," Logan answered candidly. "Sometimes we get hurt.

"You fight people. Why?"

"Look, I'll make you a promise," Logan said, feeling Jean's irritation at the conversation on the end of their link. "When we get back, I'll sit down with you and Michele and we'll talk about it."

"Are you going to find Michele?"

"Yeah, Angel."

"Both of you?"

"Unfortunately, honey, we have to go," Jean answered, pressing a kiss to Jane's temple.

"Can't I come?"

"No," Logan and Jean said in unison.

"But…"

"No, Jane. We can't focus on Michele and Marie and keep you safe all at the same time," Logan told her, his tone telling her not to argue.

"I can take care of myself," Jane stated.

"Exactly why we're trusting you to stay here," Jean replied.

"But Mommy—"

"No, Jane," Jean said firmly. Then she felt the wave of fear from her daughter and almost buckled.

"Jean," Logan warned.

_You go ahead,_ she said, not wanting her daughter to hear their discussion.

_You need to be there, _he told her sternly.

_And I will be, but my terrified daughter comes first,_ Jean responded sharply. The fact that her other child was missing was starting to grate on her nerves and the stress was starting to show.

_I'll let Chuck know,_ Logan conceded, kissing them both on the forehead. Jane clung tighter to her mother when the door closed behind him.

"Jane, honey, I need you to loosen up a bit," Jean groaned out, Jane forcing the air from her lungs.

"You can't go too," Jane whined.

"I have to, Jane," Jean responded softly. "I have to go."

"Then Daddy has to stay," Jane said petulantly.

"Neither of us can stay here."

"Why not?"

"Because Michele is our daughter too, just like she's your sister," Jean answered. "As her Mommy, I have to go get her."

"But as my Mommy you have to stay here.

Jean pulled Jane so she was sitting on Jean's thighs, then cupped her face. "I know you're scared, sweetheart. You've been really brave so far. We just need you to be brave a little while longer," she almost begged. "Grandpa Charles will be here, you'll get to spend the time with him."

"But I want to spend it with you! You promised only one of you and Daddy would be gone at one time."

"And in any other situation that promise would stand true," Jean swore, "But this is special."

"Mommy…" Jane whined, flopping against Jean and holding on tight.

_Jean?_ Logan had opened their link for the meeting.

_I'm listening. _

* * *

Logan lounged back against the uncomfortable chair as best he could.

"With the computerization of the mission logs we were able to take an organized look at all of Cyclops' missions since he started," Bobby was saying, having taken control of the information side.

"Cut the eloquence and let's find my daughter," Logan growled.

"We found them," Kitty picked up. "Up to Cyclops' mission with Wolverine in Korea, all Brotherhood missions were completed successfully. After that, his success rate declined significantly in all Brotherhood missions and his reports slowly began to contradict those given in by his partners."

"How is that going to help us?" Logan asked impatiently.

"Patience, Logan," Xavier said calmly.

"Patience? My daughter and Marie could be goin' to their deaths and all you can say to me is patience?" Logan exploded.

_Logan__! Calm down!_ Jean's mental voice screamed at him._ You're not going to help us anymore by fighting with them about it. _

She was right and he knew it. Without another word, he sat back down in his recently vacated seat. There was a moment of silence to see if there would be another outburst, but Logan just growled quietly.

"We have reason to believe Scott has been working for the Brotherhood," Bobby finally said, cutting to the chase. "The kidnapping of Michele and Marie was no coincidence either."

"What did Jane have to say?"

"Magneto wants bait to lure Jean," Logan condensed. "He wants her on his side."

"Naturally," Ororo said scathingly, though not in reference to Jean. "Power hungry bastard."

"Jean has the power to wipe out anything she sees fit," Xavier pointed out. "She would be a valuable asset to Magneto's side."

"This is what you meant when you said Magneto could manipulate. You knew there was a chance that they could all be in danger," Bobby said in awe, looking at Logan.

"Anyone in this place is in danger," Logan pointed out, Jean in his head calming him enough to be rational. "No offence, Chuck, but because this is where we work from, anyone who sets foot in this mansion could be bait for any of us."

_That's not telling us where they could be,_ Jean's voice echoed in all of their heads. _Can we focus on one thing at a time? You all agree I have enough power to do extensive damage, so let's not debate it and let's focus on finding them._

"She's got a point," Kitty said, pulling up a map of North America. "Theoretically, they could be anywhere around this area. I doubt Magneto would take them far, but you never know."

"What strongholds do we know about?" Logan asked, settling his elbows on his knees. "Where is the most logical place to take them?" In his mind, he felt Jean flinch and immediately understood.

" Alkali Lake," he said, at the same time Jean said it in his mind.

"Why there?"

"They want Michele and Marie to be found, right?" Logan questioned. "That's the most obvious place."

"The entire thing is under water now," Kitty responded.

"Jean's been back almost ten years," Logan countered. "That's more than enough time to rebuild some of the things destroyed by the water."

" Logan makes a good point," Xavier stepped in. "The most logical place for them to look would be Alkali Lake, but I will check Cerebro when the meeting is adjourned, to make sure."

"It still doesn't make sense to me," Kitty said honestly. " Alkali Lake? Where your worst memories are?"

"Exactly. The last place Jean and I would ever want our children to be," Logan spoke softly.

Ororo stood gracefully, facing her teammates with a fierceness in her eyes that meant war. "We find my niece and we bring her home," she stated strongly. "That is our only mission."

One by one they filtered out of the room, Ororo's words signalling the end of their meeting. Logan made his way up to the room he shared with Jean, finally feeling the emotion of losing a daughter weighing on his shoulders. He found the redhead looking out of the window and immediately wrapped his arms around her from behind, dropping his chin to her shoulder.

"When do we leave?" Jean whispered strongly.

"You'll be able to handle this?"

Jean smiled turning to face him and placing a hand against his cheek. "We have to do this, Logan. Both of us."

"That's exactly what they want," Logan growled back. "They want to be able to harness your power and have me out of the way, so I can't stop you."

"I was listening, I know. They don't understand the can of worms they've just opened."

Suddenly, Logan could hear the power in her voice and feel it humming under her skin. He was immensely proud of the strides she'd made through the years in control and in the way she handled herself. She wasn't the lost little girl any more. She was a strong woman, who knew who she was and understood the power she wielded.

"We leave when Chuck gives us the okay."

Jean nodded, allowing more of her power to flow through her blood. Logan still didn't let her go, even though he could see objects around the room react to the power. Unexpectedly, Logan spun her to face him. Jean instantly boxed the power back up to look at him with furious green eyes.

"Whatever happens, Jeannie, I want you to remember one thing," he whispered to her ferociously, searching her eyes for the normally calm and collected Jean Grey.

"What?"

"I love you," he swore to her. "I will _always_ love you."

The anger in Jean's eyes faded, replaced by an uncertain mother who was worried for the well-being of her children. "I want them to be okay."

"You'd know if they weren't," Logan promised. "So would Jane."

"She fell asleep about half way through the meeting," Jean said, looking over his shoulder at her lone daughter and where she was curled up against Jean's own Bedtime Bear.

"Dreamless?" Logan asked worriedly.

"I'm trying," she responded. "The trauma of this afternoon fights really hard."

Logan kissed her forehead. "Chuck was goin' to check Cerebro to see if he could better pinpoint where Golden Boy was takin' the girls."

"Let's go find him."

* * *

**_Okay, so I took thirty seconds on my computer (loss of battery because I don't have my power cord) to update. I hope you enjoy!_**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 **

Marie came to on a damp stone floor and winced as she tried to sit up. Her head was pounding horribly and her mouth tasted like she'd swallowed cotton. She groaned softly as she sat up, taking in her surroundings. She was in a cell, for that was the only word that suited the small enclosure she currently sat in the middle of. She frantically tried to think back to what had happened to result in her being here, but it only hurt her head more.

All she could remember were Michele and Jane.

_Where are they?_ Marie thought frantically, suddenly much more awake than she'd been. Those girls had been her charges for the afternoon. If she'd gone and lost them because she'd fallen asleep then Logan and Jean would kill her…

Marie was jolted from her thoughts by a gut-wrenching sob.

"Hello?" she called softly.

"Aunt Marie?"

"Michele? Jane?"

"Michele," the small voice called back. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"I don't know, sweetheart," Marie answered, crawling to the side of the cell she figured Michele's small voice was coming from.

That only resulted in a harder sob from the little girl. "I want Mommy!"

"Michele, honey, I know," Marie said frantically, wishing she was beside the girl to hold her and calm her down.

"I'm scared," Michele whimpered.

"I'm sure you are. I am too, but we have to be strong until your mom and dad come to get us, okay?"

"They're coming?"

"I'm sure they're on their way here right now," another voice spoke, stronger than Marie's that made her blood run cold. She still had nightmares about that voice.

"Who are you?" Michele asked fearfully and Marie really wished she could hide the small girl from the man who Marie assumed was standing in front of Michele's cell.

"A friend," Magneto assured the girl.

"If you were my friend, you wouldn't lock me up like this," Michele shot back immediately. Marie heard Magneto chuckle.

"So much like your mother," he said.

"Leave her alone," Marie called into the dim. She could make out Magneto's shape just down the hall from her and the shape of another person.

"And young Rogue," Magneto spoke condescendingly, slowly making his way down the hall. "Given enough responsibility that she cannot handle it."

"Taking care of Michele is not too much responsibility," Marie told him sharply, not liking the insinuation the older man was making.

"Maybe not one, but both of the little girls…" Magneto tsked and Marie had to resist the urge to flinch.

"This will probably be the last time they are left in your charge," he continued.

"You don't know anything about her!" Michele defended adamantly. "She's one of the best aunts I've got!"

"An aunt?" Magneto asked. "So you've been completely adopted, have you? Tell me, do they treat you the same as their own children?"

"Everyone is an aunt or uncle at the mansion," Marie shot back, trying to steer the conversation away from where it was going. She knew Jean and Logan respected her and though Logan looked at her like a daughter, he knew she was an adult.

"I will leave you to believe that," Magneto said, and Marie knew he thought she was uncertain of her place at Xavier's Institute.

"Aunt Marie?" Michele whispered, loud enough to carry the slight distance down the hall.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"What was he trying to do? And who was he?"

"That was Magneto, Michele," Marie said, knowing the little girl had some experience with the Institute's knowledge.

"The Brotherhood guy? Like Grandpa Charles is to you?"

"Exactly."

"What was he doing, saying those mean things?" Michele asked innocently. "Daddy and Mommy treat you like any other member of the team."

"I know that, sweetheart, and I know your parents see me as an adult. He was trying to hurt me."

"That's not very nice of him," the little girl said, and Marie smiled at the anger she heard in the five-year-old. Sometimes those girls could seem so much older than they were.

"Aunt Marie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Michele said in a small voice, but it made Marie's heart swell. Sometimes it was the little things that mattered. She sat back against the wall content for the time being.

And knowing it was going to take more than words to shake the Grey family's trust in one another.

* * *

" Alkali Lake," Xavier pronounced to Jean and Logan just outside the round room. Their shoulders slumped with the official declaration, both hoping they wouldn't have to go back there again.

"When do we leave?" Logan asked after a moment.

"We'll need to assemble the team and make sure the schematics of the buildings are still the same as they were ten years ago…"

"Damnit Chuck! They may not have that much time," Logan exploded.

"They'll have that much time, Logan," Jean said calmly, though Logan could smell the faint salty scent of tears. "If Magneto wants us, they'll keep them alive."

"Bait is no good to him dead," the professor agreed.

"Then only one of us should go," Logan turned to Jean. "We don't want to give him what he wants."

"I'm going to get my daughter, Logan," Jean said sharply, her mood swings brought on by the stress kicking in. "I don't care how dangerous it is. I can't sit back and just watch."

"There will be no negotiating, Jean," Xavier warned. "Magneto will take your whole family if that's what he believes will make you cooperate."

"There will be no cooperating," Jean snapped back. "This means war."

"Dem's fightin' words, Red. You sure you're ready?" Logan asked unnecessarily, squeezing her hand to let her know he had complete faith in her.

"If this is going to be the final battle then so be it," she responded easily, resolve flashing through her green eyes. Both men knew better than to mess with a determined Jean Grey.

"I will ask Ororo to start preparing the jet," Xavier concluded.

* * *

Jean hid her fear well as she stalked through the halls of the mansion to the great wide outdoors. She was completely and utterly terrified for her daughter and for what they were all walking into. Magneto had proven time and time again that he was not lacking in intelligence. The mission they were about to embark on could well be a suicide mission for most of them.

_I should go on my own,_ Jean thought to herself, staring out at the wide expanse of mansion grounds.

_And leave me out of all the fun?_ Jean had forgotten that the link between her and Logan was always open, partly out of a promise and partly because Jean wasn't exactly sure how to close it.

_I could have saved all of you the danger,_ she responded simply.

_Now's not the time to start feelin' guilty 'bout somethin' you couldn't really control, Red, _Logan told her honestly. _You know Michele and Jane are family to everyone in that mansion. You would have had to fight tooth and nail to get them to stay behind while you went by yourself. _

He had a good point, but Jean wasn't going to acknowledge that just yet. _How many of us aren't going to make it out of this? _

_Pessimism isn't going to help,_ Logan said wisely. _Look for your opportunities and go for it. _

_We're signing their death warrants, _Jean protested sharply.

_They made the choice, just like we did. You forget, Red, that these are the same people you've grown up with, some that consider you their own mother. Fightin' with Chuck was their choice and that means they fight against Magneto. This is a fight against Magneto as much as it's a rescue mission for Marie and the girls. _

_I hate it when you get all logical and rational,_ she quipped with a mock mental sigh. _Makes me look stupid. _

_You're not stupid,_ Logan returned easily, _You're stressed, what with Michele gone and leavin' Jane here by herself, plus the know-how that Magneto is after you… that's a lot on your plate. _

_How can you be so rational? _

_You were the one that taught me about hope and faith,_ he pointed out. _I'm just takin' a page from your book. _

_I'm not sure if I should be flattered or insulted,_ Jean teased. _Flattered because you listened, or insulted because you have the gall to throw it back in my face. _

Logan's mental chuckle reverberated through her mind. _Stay there, I'm going to come to you_

* * *

_** Sorry about the shortness of this chapter, I didnt realize there wasn't much to it. I'm pretty sure the next one's longer and I'm working my way slowly through chapter 10 and 11. Hopeuflly at least 9 will be up by Sunday next week, but I don't want to make any promises. Look for it, cuz I certainly am going to try.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 **

Logan found her mentally whipping rocks at a large tree far away from the mansion.

"Red?"

"Give me a minute, Logan," Jean grumbled in reply, picking up a much larger rock and deliberately missing the tree by inches.

Mentally, Logan did an inventory of the emotions Jean had gone through thus far: she'd been calm and rational, she'd been upset, she'd gone through blaming herself – though he was sure she was still doing it – and had now plunged head long into anger. At least, he reflected, she was working constructively with the anger and not taking it out on a team mate. His respect for her sky-rocketed, as if there was the opportunity for it to grow.

When he re-emerged from his mental catalogue, Jean had taken a seat by a nearby tree, her head on her knees.

"Red?" he tried again.

"How could I let this happen?"

Points to him again. She hadn't stopped blaming herself in the slightest. "You didn't let anything happen."

"I trusted Scott, didn't I?"

"You didn't have reason not to," Logan pointed out rationally. As much as he hated Scott, it wasn't fair to impose his feelings onto someone as independent as Jean. Especially since those opinions hadn't stuck in the slightest.

"You suspected him."

"Darlin' I'd been around him longer, I'd seen the changes in him," he replied soothingly, taking a seat beside her and bringing her head to rest on his shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for things you didn't know."

"I should have been able to sense something wrong," she returned crossly. "I'm a damn telepath!"

"And you're not perfect," he returned. "Chuck didn't know anythin' was wrong."

"I'm stronger than Charles," she pointed out. "I can get deeper than he can with a simple surface probe."

"And Golden Boy was probably trained by Magneto. He's been gone for a long time, Red. It gave him enough time to be taught things under Magneto's wing."

"Remember when I told you that it was possible to shield your thoughts but you couldn't fake them?" Jean asked softly, both of them having fallen into a few moments of silence.

"Yeah."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"What are you sayin'," Logan asked carefully.

"I couldn't even tell he was a double agent. He found some way around the telepathic probe, Logan. What good am I if I can't even find out a simple thing like someone's intent."

"Don't do this, Jean. Don't start questioning' your abilities now, not when we've come so far."

"If I'd have found it back then, we wouldn't be having this problem now, would we?" Jean asked scathingly, physically picking up a rock and tossing it at a nearby tree.

"Scooter could have been shieldin', you know. Givin' you a false sense of what he was doin'," Logan tried, his mind trying to come up with ways Scott could have avoided Jean's telepathy.

"His mind wasn't a blank, Logan," Jean returned, strong hatred in her voice. "Mind, the thoughts were about as clear as mud, but they were there, and they were completely focused on the mansion and the things and people in it."

"Includin' you."

"And Charles, and Marie and you… I wasn't special in that."

"You are damn strong, Darlin'," Logan started, steering the conversation from her self-deprecating reflection. "You can do things that Chuck can't do and that a million other mutants couldn't do together. You've got to believe that."

"Then I should have been able to save my daughter."

Logan, realizing this train of thought wasn't going to convince her of anything, changed course. "This isn't gonna help her, Jeannie."

She shot him a sarcastic smile. "Gave up, huh?"

"There's no arguin' with you on this. I'm cuttin' my losses," Logan returned with his own small grin.

Jean nodded absently. "It is my fault, isn't it?"

"Even if I tell you 'no' you're not gonna care," Logan pointed out, his voice soft and therefore the scathing comment slid off of Jean's back.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she snorted, curling into his body. Logan pulled her across his lap, settling her against him comfortably enough to hug her close.

"I have all of the confidence in the world in you, Jeannie," he told her unnecessarily.

"We should have left," Jean whispered, curling further into Logan's chest.

"What do you mean, Darlin'?"

"This whole kidnapping thing… that's exactly what I'm talking about Logan. I didn't want the girls involved. I wanted to move out of the mansion, fly under the radar for a bit so that people didn't know, so Michele and Jane could have a childhood without worrying about the consequences of being our children," Jean said, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes.

"We decided not to do anything, Jeannie," Logan said carefully. "At the time, it was the right decision."

"And now it seems like the complete opposite," Jean replied scathingly. "We should have protected them better."

"_We didn't know, Jean_," Logan emphasised, the words puffs of air into her ear. "We had no idea Scooter was on his way to ruin everythin' we had."

"That's just it, Logan! Everything has gone downhill now, and I'm not exactly sure what we're supposed to do."

"We're going to rescue Michele and Marie," Logan said, his tone of voice conveying his confusion at her statement.

"How? If we couldn't protect them, how can we protect ourselves enough to get them out? If we couldn't protect them the first time, how can we protect them the second time?"

"We know the enemy here, Red," Logan pointed out. "One-Eye can't pull anything on us now."

"He's desperate," Jean countered. "He's proven that by kidnapping our children."

"But we don't have to question his loyalties. We know he's Brotherhood," Logan replied.

"And that's a totally different ball of wax," Jean said, trying to hold back the tears that had again sparked to the surface. She'd thought she was done crying after Jane had fallen asleep and she'd allowed herself to break down. Apparently, that wasn't true.

"I know you want to know what happened, I know you want to blame yourself," Logan began carefully, not willing to offend her. "You have to remember he made his own choices, Darlin'. He decided to join with the Brotherhood and that's that. Summers can be as stubborn as you or me when he wants to."

She had to give him that. Scott had always been stubborn. "I still can't help but feel slightly responsible for it all," she whispered.

"Why? He was the one that shut you out. He was the one that ignored you. He was the one that turned around and expected you to still love him after he put you through hell and back."

"He was also the one that left when _I_ told him I didn't love him. He was the one that fell for a mirage of _me_ when he was in Korea that made him switch sides."

"You're trying to blame yourself," Logan told her bluntly. "You are a great person, Jeannie and an awesome mother. We aren't going to be able to protect them forever, and we're not going to be able to keep an eye on them at all times. Instead, we have to work with the time and the resources we have. We'll get her back, Jeannie, you know we will."

They were silent for a few moments before Jean spoke again. "What if Phoenix comes to play?"

"Then we deal with it. We've done it before, we can do it again, Jean."

"Maybe I should have had Charles put the barriers in."

"Don't say that," Logan growled passionately, pulling her into his body. "You are who you are, Jean. Nothing Chuck or you or I could do would ever change that."

"Sometimes, I wish it could."

Neither of them saw or heard the small child race off through the trees.

* * *

Magneto had been to visit Michele numerous times since their capture and Marie wasn't exactly sure what to do. He'd been nothing but good to the little girl and hadn't attempted to abuse her in the slightest. Marie still hated him, truly hated him, for what he'd put her through, but an impressionable girl like Michele may have developed a different idea. It didn't stop Michele from crying herself to sleep over and over, though she invariably managed to put on a strong face when their captor came patrolling.

"Let us share," Marie asked him during one of his visits. "She's crying herself to sleep."

'"But she's strong, aren't you Michele?" Magneto deferred to the five-year-old. Michele nodded solemnly, though Marie could tell by the look in her eyes she was feeling anything but.

"She doesn't need someone to watch over her."

"And I'm not," Marie promised. "She's old enough and knows enough that she doesn't need someone to watch over her, but she's five and this is the first time she's been away from home."

"She's close enough to a familiar face," Magneto stated, seemingly enjoying the conversation.

"Damnit you twisted bastard!" Marie exploded, ignoring the surprised look on her niece's face. Marie made a habit not to swear in front of the twins. Still, Magneto's maniacal laughter haunted her and echoed off the walls as he made his sweeping exit.

* * *

_**So here's the next one and I really hope you all enjoyed it. It feels a little bit shorter than usual and for that, I apologize (If it's not then yay for me).**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 

"Mommy?" Jane whined, watching Jean pack the bare necessities into a duffle bag.

"I have to go, Jane. That's the end of the discussion."

"Why?"

With a frustrated sigh, Jean dropped down beside her daughter. "There's a lot you don't know about these things, sweetheart. A lot you aren't aware of in terms of me, and in terms of what's going on here. Those are the reasons I have to go and Daddy has to go."

"Tell me," she begged.

"No." Jean's tone brooked no argument. In fact, it almost sounded as angry as Jean had ever sounded to her children.

"But…"

"Drop it, Jane."

In a move reminiscent of a stubborn Jean, Jane lifted her chin in defiance. "I'll find out, you know."

Jean sighed, torn between frustration and defeat. She'd tried so hard to keep both of her children from the world she lived it, the one that was filled with manipulation, greed and indifference. Jane and Michele lived in a world of acceptance and love, a world both Jean and Logan had worked hard to achieve.

"You don't want to hear about it," she finally settled on. "Not yet, anyway."

"I'm not a little girl!" Jane exploded angrily, her lack of understanding evident to Jean in the stamping of her foot. "You can't keep us both hidden away forever."

"Jane…"

"You couldn't keep Michele hidden or out of anything, so why are you trying?"

Jean had known the girls would be smart, but this intelligence scared her. Jane had brought up a good point. Why was Jean hiding it all from them? Why, now that Michele was gone, was she not telling Jane everything?

"You know I'm right," Jane whispered, knowing from her mother's facial expressions that the older woman was battling through unknowns. "We deserve to know, Mommy."

"You deserve to be safe," Jean countered finally, her voice hard. "You deserve the change to lead a normal life without influence from outside people and without stress that comes with this cause."

"And if we like the cause? If we agree with it? What difference does it make then?"

Finally, Jean's carefully measured frustration got the better of her and she whirled on Jane, her eyes flashing coal black. "Enough."

Jane immediately backed off. Sitting quietly, puzzling over the events that had just occurred. She'd find out what was going on, one way or another. It was as she sat puzzling away, watching her mother's now jerky movements as she battled her inner demons and tried to pack at the same time, that she caught a stray thought. Since the thought was her mother's, and the event didn't happen regularly, Jane paid careful attention. Emotions swirled through her unprotected mind, frustration, worry, anger at herself… and anger at Grandpa Charles.

Grandpa Charles?

Gently and carefully, Jane dug into that anger, looking for its origin and gasped. _Grandpa Charles is afraid of Mommy._ Her mind reeled with the knowledge, holding onto the events in her mother's memory and the hell she'd been through since discovering it all.

* * *

Jane went to her grandfather, part of her ready to confront him and the things she believed he was responsible for in her life and I her mother's and part of her just wanting to get away from the packing and the idea of her parents leaving. It was comforting to be in his presence and to be away from her mother, away from the high stress that seemed to be taking over the mansion in the absence of her sister.

"Grandpa," she said softly after staring silently out the window for what felt like forever. "Why does this man think he can get Mommy's help? Everyone knows she's strong-willed and her powers are strong… how does he think he's different?"

Knowing Jane would be able to tell if he was lying, Charles didn't even try. "He doesn't believe your mother has the control we know she has."

"You mean like Daddy has control of his animal?" she tried to clarify innocently.

Xavier blinked. Jane knew much more than anyone gave her credit for, much like her mother when Charles met the twelve-year-old Jean Grey. He also discovered he could see nothing in her mind and sighed. Apparently her parents' problems had reflected on her and the shielding she'd been taught. Ororo had mentioned something about Jean's exhaustion because one of the twins had been up with nightmares….

"Grandpa?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Like Daddy?" she repeated. "Magnet doesn't think Mommy has control like Daddy does."

"Something like that," Xavier agreed finally.

"Why wouldn't Mommy have control? She's been training since she was a teenager," Jane asked, seemingly confused.

"Your mother did not always possess the abilities and strength she has now, Jane," he answered delicately. "There were things holding her back." _People holding her back._

"Like what?"

Those green eyes, so like her mother's had Xavier hypnotized, as Jean's often did. "Barriers." He figured the answer was vague enough not to spark any reaction.

Jane gasped. "Psychic barriers?"

Xavier knew he was getting himself into trouble with someone as intelligent as Jane, but he answered regardless. "Yes." He saw the wheels turning as Jane took the information, digested it, and filed it away.

"But that doesn't make sense," Jane protested. "The only person that could do that would be you."

Xavier didn't answer and let Jane come to her own conclusion.

Her eyes widened as she realized what he was telling her. "You did that?" she whispered.

"I didn't have a choice." Part of him could not believe he was having this conversation with a five-year-old and defending himself as if she understood the implications.

"But… Mommy says this is a haven for people like us," Jane protested.

"It is," Xavier stressed, wheeling his chair to settle beside where Jane was still seated on a windowsill. "This will always be a place where you can use your mutation, within reason, and not fear the consequences."

"Then why did you do it?" Jane asked, trying to keep her voice neutral, trying to ignore the anger and betrayal that flooded her mind.

"Your mother was dangerous to herself and others. I didn't have a choice."

"Every mutant can be dangerous to themselves and to others," Jane shot back sensibly.

Xavier was not surprised by the intelligence of the little redhead. Instead, it was expected. She was Jean's child and Jean was an extremely intelligent woman. I didn't surprise him that she understood things, but he was impressed at the level of which she understood things that adults didn't. "That is true…"

"So how is Mommy different? She was supposed to be able to stay at this special school and make her life easier because she didn't have to hide and didn't have to be scared," Jane attacked.

"Jane, she could have killed people without realizing it."

"She can still do that," Jane exploded. "And Aunt Marie can kill people with a simple touch and you didn't do anything about that."

"Your Aunt Marie is different from your mother," Xavier tried again. "Her mutation was to take someone's life force. The only way to hinder that would be to remove it from her completely and that could kill her."

"Mommy's mutation almost killed her and almost killed the people she loved," Jane yelled, her eyes wild with indignation.

"Jane…"

"You can't admit you're wrong and sometime they won't need you, like Mommy doesn't need you now. They help you because you ask and that's okay because most of the people here love you, even Mommy, and you did bad things to her. But Grandpa, help has two sides and you don't always help them back. The battle with this Magnet guy started before I was born, and I get that, but I think you're starting to go too far." She nimbly hopped off the windowsill and prowled to the door, the perfect imitation of an annoyed Logan. When she reached the door, standing on her tip toes to reach the knob properly, she turned back.

"I don't think it's too late," she whispered.

Xavier was left looking at his closed office door wondering what exactly he'd let develop.

* * *

Jean was remarkably calm as she landed the Blackbird, Ororo In the co-pilot's seat and Logan's calming presence directly behind her. She stayed seated, powering down the jet's power as everyone else evacuated and began setting up camp just below. She was aware of Logan still in his seat as she did this, providing her with unwavering support in a time that was just as tough for him as it was for her.

He never ceased to amaze her. Logan could be dear and sweet, but angry and over-protective. He could be working through the worst problems of his life and still be a post for her to lean on when her world was crumbling.

_I only hope I can be the same for him. _

"You are, Jeannie," he spoke out loud, reminding her of their shared link. "You and those girls are the most important things in my life."

"And one is lost," Jean stated mournfully, leaning against the console.

"Don't beat yourself up about it," Logan stated forcefully. "Both Michele and Marie are smart girls and Michele's damn strong."

"She's terrified Logan," Jean whispered. "She's so scared…"

Logan carefully schooled his thoughts and face, knowing of Jean's hyper-sensitivity. He believed whole-heartedly that Jean was right, but he also crossed his fingers that his baby had his genes, his raw nerves and reckless bravery, that would be the backbone of her strength.

"She knows we're on our way," he spoke, trying to soothe Jean's own rising fears.

"Does she?" Jean whispered. "They don't, but Logan, she's a baby. What if she doesn't think we're coming."

"Hey," he said softly, pulling her into his arms and hugging her close to his body. "You didn't fight with Mich before she disappeared, Darlin'. I'm sure she knows we're coming." The tension in her muscles screamed her fear and discomfort and all Logan wanted was to take it away, to protect her and the girls from everything. He knew she blamed herself for Michele's disappearance but he almost blamed himself more. He'd known something was off with Scott and had known before he'd left. He shouldn't have trusted Scott, should have had him watched from day one.

He'd made a mistake and he knew there was a chance that it could cost him the things he loved most…

The people who'd taught him what family was.

"Its as much my fault as it is yours," she murmured into his shoulder, burrowing her head as close as she possibly could to the skin of his neck.

He sighed, shoving his pessimistic thoughts to the recesses of his mind. "Let's stop with the blaming and focus on getting Michele."

It was going to turn out to be their mantra: _focus on Michele_.

"Guys?" Bobby spoke up from the entrance to the plane, not wanting to startle the couple. "You're going to want to come see what I found."


	11. Chapter 11

_**Michele's nickname is Monkey from most people, but Princess from Logan. I decided this when I was sick of finding different ways of giving her a shorter name and it's also a tribute to one of my friends. Thus, you've probably never seen it, or Boo – Jane's nickname and a tribute to my sister – before, but there's the explanation. I decided Jane needed a nickname because to get one from Jane is pretty hard, and thus, came Boo. So ha. ENJOY! **_

**_I'm so sorry about how long this took. The end of it drove me insane, actually... I had to rewrite the ending I'd had just to make everything fit... I hope you still like it :D_**

* * *

**Chapter 11 **

Jean and Logan stepped curiously off the Blackbird, eyes following Bobby's line of sight to fall on a small redhead seated comfortably in front of Ororo.

"What is she doing here?" Logan growled, ready to charge at his youngest daughter.

"How did she get here?" came Jean's next question also ready to give her daughter a piece of her mind.

It was Bobby that stopped both parents. "The last thing she needs is for you guys to yell and scream at her. We just got her calmed down after her first flight. Plus, she's here now and it won't do any of us any good to start friction over a terrified little girl."

Jean deflated. "I wanted her to stay at home, safe," she murmured with a shake of her head.

"She is our daughter," Logan pointed out.

Jean shook her head and started forward towards Jane and Ororo. Jane stiffened when Jean's hand brushed gently over her head.

"You shouldn't be here," Jean murmured softly.

"I'm sorry Mommy," she replied.

"For now, Boo, it's okay," Jean assured easily lifting the girl into her arms. "I wish you would have stayed safe at home though."

"I… I didn't want to stay there."

"Honey, we all want Monkey back but we can't just…"

"It's more than that," Jane admitted reluctantly, though still interrupting her mother.

Jean looked at her daughter carefully. "What does that mean?"

"I might've had a fight with Grandpa," she admitted.

"Might have?" Jean questioned suspiciously, eyebrow arched.

"I did?"

Jean sighed. "What on earth did you fight with Grandpa about?"

"You probably really don't want to know," Jane said seriously.

"I'm not going to ask again, Jane," Jean threatened, a warning note to her voice. Michele fighting with Charles she could understand, but her angelic Jane?

"You," Jane mumbled out.

"I beg your pardon?" Jean asked reflexively out of surprise.

_You_. Jane repeated, mentally projecting so the world wouldn't know. She saw her mother and father exchange a glance before Jean began walking away from the assembled group. It wasn't until Jane was sure that even her animalistic father couldn't hear that Jean stopped, setting Jane down and taking a seat at the trunk of a large tree. Jane sat beside her carefully and felt better when Jean wrapped her arm around Jane's shoulders.

For her part, Jean was torn between emotion after emotion. Anger, understanding, relief, hope and fear were just some of the emotions racing through her already tortured brain and it was starting to get a little overwhelming. She was still angry at Scott and angry at herself over Michele's disappearance and she was absolutely terrified for Michele's safety and development. She understood that Jane was scared too and really didn't want to be alone at home, and a part of her was glad Jane was sitting beside her simply because it meant she was still safe.

Nevertheless, Jean was also worried over what Jane had said to Xavier. Though Jean was upset with her long-time mentor, and probably would be for a large majority of her life, she'd been careful not to impress her dislike and resentment onto Michele and Jane and knew Logan had never spoken to the girls about what had occurred years before they were born.

"Mommy… What happened before me and Monkey were born?"

Jean tried her best not to flinch. "What do you mean?"

Jane huffed. "I've heard you and Daddy talk about it sometimes, when you don't think anyone's around. You're angry at Grandpa and so is Daddy, so I asked Grandpa about it."

Jean was stunned for a moment. She'd been so careful when bringing up Phoenix and the extent her mutation covered and truly had never believed her babies were around during her discussions with Logan. Apparently, Jane was more like her father than they thought.

"How much did he tell you?"

"Nothing I didn't already suspect or know," Jane admitted. "I keep hearing bits and pieces of thoughts and hearing Daddy thinking and the two of you talking – or yelling, I'm never exactly sure which – and it's always bad things about Grandpa, about something he did. When you have a headache and I've heard you curse him after a nightmare when Daddy's not home and when you were packing, you were mad at Grandpa and that's when I found out that Grandpa's afraid of you…"

"Jane," Jean interrupted. "Slow down."

"I talked to Grandpa, wondering why Magnet wanted you, because the entire mansion was crazy when Daddy came back from Brazil," Jane began slowly and carefully.

"What?" Jean asked surprised.

"Grandpa doesn't lie to me because I caught him once so he told me about control and I basically figured out that Grandpa held you back and I got mad at him because the whole mansion is supposed to be a haven for mutants…"

Jean was stunned. She'd always encouraged Jane's natural curiosity and her keen interest in learning new things, but never in her life had Jean expected this. Sure, she'd previously known Jane was more than smart and had time after time considered starting her early on some of the class work, but then decided it wouldn't be fair to Michele.

Jean asked the only thing she could. "What happened?"

Jane looked down at her hands, which she'd folded in her lap. "I told him that what he did was wrong, that he can't believe you're stronger than he is, so he wants to cripple you."

Jean knew by the way Jane continued to play with her hands that there was more. "And?"

"He doesn't know when he's gone too far." When Jean didn't scold, or even reply, Jane looked up at the confused look on her mother's face.

"You and Daddy and Aunt Marie and Aunt Ro and everybody fight for what Grandpa thinks, and that's okay because that's what you want, but he keep getting people to follow him and people get hurt or killed. I told him I hoped by the time he found out he'd gone too far it wasn't too late."

Jean sighed, torn between chastising her daughter for fighting with her grandfather, berating herself for the rock she'd allowed her children to live under and being proud of Jane's intelligence and perception.

"Mommy?"

"I'm not mad at you sweetheart," Jean promised, pressing a kiss to Jane's head.

"You're not?" Jane asked in confusion.

With another sigh, Jean pulled Jane to her lap. "You should not have come here, Boo," she started sternly. "But you know a lot more about this than Daddy and I wanted you to and I'm starting to think that we made a mistake in holding it all back and not explaining things to you."

"I don't get it," Jane said bluntly and Jean couldn't help but smile.

"Part of me is angry at your grandfather for what I had to experience many years ago but he's also been the closest thing to a father I've had and as angry as I may be, he's my father."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "You're not telling me stuff," she accused.

Jean took a deep breath, her mind echoing back to the words Jane had spoken back at the mansion.

_You couldn't keep Michele out of everything so why are you trying? _

"I died, Jane," Jean finally whispered. "Years before you were born, I died." And as Jane sat on her mother's lap awed and stunned, the entire story of Alkali Lake and Magneto spilled from her lips.

"Grandpa promised me he would talk to Daddy and I before ever, EVER, considering doing something like that to you and Monkey," Jean finished, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes where she'd held them back for as long as she could. "And I vowed to myself I would never do that to you girls."

Jean knew Logan was leaning against a tree across the clearing and had been for a large portion of her abbreviated story. She'd drawn strength from him as she told her story and drew strength from him now as he approached.

"The others want to have a plannin' meetin'," he said, speaking softly. Jean only nodded. Jane on the other hand was snapped from her processing and burst into tears.

Logan looked shocked, but Jean pulled the little redhead close, stroking her back and whispering reassurances.

_What happened?_ Logan asked over their link.

_I told her everything. _

_

* * *

_

Marie couldn't sleep and it wasn't for lack of trying. It was the third night in a row that Michele had been whimpering in her fitful sleep and she was sure her little niece had been throwing up her meagre meals. Pyro had been making constant rounds in an attempt to make her better, but nothing had helped.

Marie had an inkling as to why.

"Monkey," she called softly, having heard the telltale small scream that signalled Michele's awakening.

Her only response was a pitiful whimper.

"Did yah have a nightmare?"

For that was the foundation of the problem. Marie knew from experience that when under stress and away from Logan, Jean was plagued with nightmares. With the sheer volume of power she possessed and the natural vulnerability of sleep, it was no wonder the terrors were always worse during the night.

If Michele's telepathy was developing, there was no way the poor girl was going to sleep well until she was taught how to shield against incoming thoughts.

"I want Mommy," came Michele's weak voice.

"Ah know, sugah, but ah can't help ya there. Is it a nightmare?"

"I keep hearing voices, Aunt Marie. I can't turn them off."

Marie flinched. The telepathy was manifesting and Marie knew was pretty sure both Grey children had been taught little in the ways of shielding their thoughts. "It's going to be okay," she tried to assure the young girl.

"But they won't go away," Michele insisted. Then even the whimpering stopped and Marie could only assume Michele had gone completely still.

She knew why a second later when she heard the door creak open and a disgruntled looking Pyro stepped in. An idea sparked in her mind as she watched his features school themselves into a passive, indifferent mask. "Pyro," she called, getting his attention.

"What do you want?"

"Why are you down here with a little girl instead of up strategizing with the rest of them?" Marie liked to believe Logan had trained her in the art of manipulation and thus, Marie knew which buttons to push. Pyro was cocky. Cocky meant preying on pride.

"He can't trust anyone outside of the inner circle with the brat," Pyro shot back.

"Then why not send Emma or Mystique? Or Scott for that matter? Why someone who's been loyal for so long?"

"He only trusts a few and I'm one of them."

_Magneto wouldn't trust a butterfly_, Marie thought to herself.

For her part, Michele whimpered as Pyro opened the door to her cell and Maire figured it was as good a time as any to step in.

"Let me take her."

"No."

"Why not? What do you have to lose?" She was, after all, right on. What did he have to lose? Both knew he had more to gain, especially if Marie could make Michele feel better.

"If I let her in there, how do I know you don't have a plan to get her out of here?"

Marie rolled her eyes at the lack of trust. "How am I supposed to plan something in here?" she shot back scathingly.

"Grey's telepathic."

"I haven't been talking to Jean. There's no way to contact her from here because I can't project that well." Marie knew that she was stretching the truth but she knew Jean hadn't contacted her, nor, now that she thought about it, had she contacted Jean.

She also knew Pyro was seriously considering her proposal.

"She's not going to talk to you," Marie pushed. "Let me find out what's wrong."

For a few mintues, she only heard shuffling, but then came the telltale footsteps of someone walking towards her. She moved away from the door and almost fainted in relief when it opened and Pyro stepped in, Michele awkwardly in his arms.

"You've got two hours," he said shortly, setting Michele on the ground and closing the door. Aunt and niece stared at each other for a few minutes, hearing his steps retreat down the passing before the small redhead's face dissolved. Marie instantly closed the space between them. They held each other like lifelines as salty tears soaked Marie's neck and she valiantly held back her own.

"Its okay, Monkey," Marie whispered, stroking Michele's hair. "It's all going to be okay."

"I'm scared," Michele finally managed through her sobs.

"So am I," Marie murmured back.

"Make them stop. Make the voices go away," she whined, burying her head further in Marie's neck.

Marie sighed, deciding it was better just to get straight to the point. "What do you know about telepathy?"

Michele's head came up in confusion. "Mommy and Grandpa both have it," she replied. "But what does that have to do with me?"

"It's genetic. Your Mommy gave it to you. That's why you're having nightmares, that's why you're getting sick."

"What am I supposed to do?" Michele asked.

Marie met Michele's gaze unflinchingly.

"I'm going to teach you."

* * *

Logan and Jean made their way back to the camp site, a finally quiet Jane cuddled in Logan's arms. Jean had cried along with her daughter, remarkably releasing very little of her pent up resentment. 

"They want to meet," Bobby said, coming up to meet them and ignoring the puffy eyes of the elder redhead.

"About what?" Logan asked, knowing from experience that Jean would not be up to talking as normally as any other time.

"How we're going to go about getting into that place and back out with everyone alive," Bobby replied, his tone slightly on the joking side, but his eyes holding a fierce strength and determination.

"Let's just go, we don't have time to plan it out," Jean shot back, her throat still raw from her tears and thus, her voice raspy, just as she, Logan and Bobby reached the campfire at which the others were negotiating.

"Are you crazy?" Kitty squeaked.

"We don't know how much time we've got," Jean almost growled, her emotions still frazzled from her explosion.

"We can't go in there blind," Ororo pointed out rationally. "We don't have the power and we don't have the numbers."

:"We can't leave them in there for much longer," Jean snarled. Jane whimpered slightly in Logan's arms, sensing Jean's anger.

"Which is why we're planning now," Kitty said gently, hoping to keep confrontations to a minimum. "With cooperation we could have them out as early as tomorrow."

"They should have been out yesterday," Jean shot back angrily, emotions completely fried.

"And if we'd 'ad de resources dey would 'ave been," Remy assured the fuming redhead. Sometimes it was amazing to him how alike Jean and Marie actually were. "But we didn't and dey aren't and we can't do anyt'ing about it now except plan for de next attack."

"Jeannie, the Cajun's right," Logan said slowly, well aware that Jean's mood swings were ticking time bombs.

"I don't care if he's right," Jean growled. "That's my daughter in there and she's scared and—" Jean trailed off with a gasp, her eyes widening just as Jane's head shot up from where it was resting against Logan's neck.

"Jean?" Logan's immediate response was not his daughter for the simple reason that her mother probably knew more about the mental attack. Interestingly enough, it was his daughter who answered.

"That was Michele," she whispered, stunned.

Logan glanced at her. "Michele?"

Jane nodded.

"Her mental abilities are kicking in," Jean explained further, rubbing her temples against the oncoming headache. "She was always telekinetically and telepathically slower than Jane."

"She's just got more of me in her," Logan shot back. "What does it mean?"

"It means we've got less time," Ororo stepped in, voice agreeable. "We all know the possibilities, what could happen with an uncontrolled, untrained telepath."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 **

"Promise me something," Jean spoke to Logan as they faced each other at the bottom of the Blackbird's ramp.

"Now?"

"Yes," she affirmed, resting her hands on his shoulders as if trying to steady herself against the coming battle. "If we get out of here safely, if we both make it out alive, we get married."

"Married?"

"Yes. The white dress, the huge reception, the girls as flower girls… the whole thing."

Logan's arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pulled her to him, aligning her body along his and kissing her temple delicately.

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes." Logan felt the relief rushing through Jean in the way her body relaxed against his. He walked his mind back over the situation and chuckled.

"What?" Jean asked, confused as to what he found so funny while they were about to walk into, arguably, the hardest battle of their lives.

"You just proposed to me under the Blackbird, on a mission to rescue our daughter," he told her frankly.

Jean's face screwed up in annoyance before she too, understood the humour in the situation. Then she started to chuckle. "I'm sorry, did you want the flowers and candlelight?" she quipped.

"No, but I wanted you to have them."

"What?"

"The ring is back at the mansion, in my top drawer and has been since Brazil."

"You haven't said anything!"

"I haven't had the chance to plan anything or check with Michele and Jane first."

"We're not checking with them now," Jean pointed out.

"I think they'll be ecstatic," Logan responded, lightly kissing her lips.

"Guys," Ororo called. "This is it."

Logan pulled Jean into a rough kiss, plundering her mouth while she simply surrendered. "I love you," he whispered, taking the few seconds they had before boarding the plane to remind her. "Don't ever forget that."

She smiled slightly. "I won't," she promised. "And I love you too."

It wasn't long before they were landing outside of the concrete buildings that had once held a government testing facility. It was interesting for Jean to feel the passion coming off of all of them, the rage, the horror and the dedication. Michele and Marie were their comrades, their family. They were important.

"We all remember the plan, right?" Ororo asked unnecessarily, looking into the seats behind her. "No one's going off to play hero."

Logan rolled his eyes when they met her pointed stare. "Just leave Golden Boy to me and we'll all be happy."

"Remy is going to go in and get Marie and Michele. You guys trust that Marie will bring Michele out alright?" Ororo asked, regardless of the fact that they'd been through all of this before. It had taken some convincing to get Jean to agree but eventually she'd come around.

"I'll be locked onto Michele as soon as I can find her," Jean replied, allowing some of Phoenix to slowly bleed into her consciousness. This would be the first time she allowed Phoenix almost completely free and she was sure it would feel absolutely liberating.

"Hank will be here when Michele and Marie get on the plane and he'll make sure to take a look at both of them and make sure they're both okay," Ororo continued. "Everybody ready?"

The group gave affirmative nods, each one of them going through their own mental checklist and mental peptalk pre-fight. Many of them wondered if this would be it, if this would be the battle to decide which side mutants would be on in the near future. They all realized there was so much more at stake.

After a few minutes of silence, Jean met Ororo's gaze, flicking between hers and Logan's. "Let's do this," she almost growled, eyes flashing dangerously.

Logan pulled Jean aside as the others climbed on the plane. "If you're going to keep track of me, don't let it distract you."

She almost smiled. He knew her way too well if he was already aware she would be keeping mental tabs on his safety. She revelled in the power floating through her system for a few seconds, securing his mental imprint into her subconscious. "It won't," she promised.

He nodded shortly. "Good." Then climbed on the plane.

* * *

The area looked quiet when the landed, as if the place was deserted and lifeless. However, Jean and Logan could both sense and smell and hear people, mutants. His senses were screaming, things becoming clearer, the smell of battle, the smell of fear, the smell of his mate just off to his left… he took a moment to revel in it.

"Let's go."

It didn't take long for them to invade the surrounding buildings, nor did it take long for them to find the largest group, the meeting where Magneto was outlining all that would happen when they ruled the world. He heard Jean chuckling darkly beside him and rewarded her with a feral grin, seeing the wildness in her black eyes.

By this time, Magneto had stopped speaking, focusing on the new intruders. Soon the entire room had shifted to face them, eyes narrowing, adrenaline starting to rush through mutant systems. Logan's smile widened as he took them all in.

"Scooter's mine."

Then it began.

* * *

It didn't take Logan long to lock on to Cyclops' scent, simply because the scent of stark fear clung so fiercely to the odour. Scott had fought with the X-men and, theoretically, knew their strengths and weaknesses, but he'd never attacked one of them before. Scott Summers had never experienced the overprotective X-men, especially a team so in love with those they were rescuing.

Scott had made one fatal mistake that Logan had a feeling he'd made before. He'd underestimated the bond of those fighting under Xavier and how deeply the twins and Logan and entrenched themselves in that bond. In Logan's opinion, it had been Scott's arrogance that led him to believe he could play on their forgiving natures in order to get what he wanted.

Instead, Scott triggered a reaction he was going to regret initiating. He was about to experience the X-men fighting for their own, not defending the non-mutants, but fighting to rescue something they held dear: each other.

Logan, watch your back, his redhead warned from somewhere behind him. Logan mentally blanched. He'd been so focused on Summers he hadn't been paying enough attention to everything around him. That included those that had the guts to attack him from behind.

It was a simple swipe backwards that had his enemy keening to their death and the Wolverine took pleasure in the kill. Logan allowed it to take him over even further, arousing his baser instincts as he threw himself into battle.

Jean had just as quickly locked onto Scott's mental signature but shrugged it off, looking instead for his companion: Emma Frost. The idea that the woman had preyed on her family, had the guts to waltz into the mansion, pretending to be her replacement in Scott's affections to rip apart Jean's family turned the redhead's stomach.

She felt the power rippling through her muscles as she walked, creating a path without thinking and through fear. Magneto's pawns made way for her in wondering terror, watching and avoiding an attack from her. Jean's mind was already a part of every person there, already seeping in, prepared to destroy if need be.

She sensed Logan to her right, battling his way through more courageous mutants that had the guts to attack him as the Wolverine, the same way she simply swept aside those attempting to take her on. The Phoenix and the Wolverine were on a mission, and nothing was going to get in their way. Period.

Jean's mind slipped from person to person, sometimes inflicting unseen damage, sometimes simply passing through them in her venture to the end, to Emma Frost, Magneto and the man she'd once called the love of her life. It felt good to let Phoenix take control, felt good to let it snuff out so many lives in her quest for one.

For the first time she was experiencing exactly what Logan did when Wolverine took over in battle. There was a thrill behind the killing, a surge in her blood as her enemy took their last breath that she both loved and resented. The small part of her that was still Jean shook at exactly what she was doing.

Killing ruthlessly.

This moment would haunt Jean Grey for the rest of her life, but Phoenix enjoyed control immensely, especially after being locked up for so long. The simple act of taking a life thrilled Phoenix and the Jean part had to wonder if maybe Jean liked it too. Each was a part of the other, Phoenix and Jean, Jean and Phoenix. If Phoenix liked killing, then a part of Jean liked killing too.

Phoenix pushed the rational mind to the very back, focusing on the rage, protectiveness and possessiveness that rocketed through her system. These people had not only taken her child, but imprisoned her love and tried to cage her. They were going to learn, and fast, that there was now no way to keep the Phoenix a caged bird.

Wolverine and Phoenix met at the head of the crowd, a trail of dead behind them and awed living surrounding them. At the front stood Magneto with his closest mutants, Juggernaut, Pyro, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and his second in command, Mystique. This was what they'd been waiting for.

This would be the epic battle.

It was disgusting at how clichéd this moment was. Here they were, the top end of the good guys and the bad guys about to face off in a battle that would undoubtedly leave one side injured severely, and one side dead completely.

Ororo Munroe watched as a third party observer, her part of the battle simply to keep the pawns occupied to allow the best to battle it out. She also understood Jean and Logan's need to finish this for themselves. These were the people that attempted to use their family against their friends and the overprotective, possessive and loving pair couldn't stand that.

It surprised her to look at this as the battle to end all, the one that would decide which side would be spending years recovering and allowing the other to dominate the world and notice that Charles Xavier would not be directly involved. Charles and Magneto had been partners, friends and here the X-men were, about to face off against the latter, without the direct support of the one person who knew Magneto better than the rest.

Xavier had done his part thought, she realized watching Jean and Logan. He'd instilled in each of them love, devotion and honour, morals, values and tolerance that had them fighting as they were today. There was no competition in the X-men. Each knew their place and each knew the other strengths and weaknesses. No one fought against one another for the 'coveted seat'. There was no right-hand person in Xavier's warriors that wasn't a mutually made decision.

Ororo saw the first attack, a physical one from Juggernaut, and knew the final battle had begun. She watched Iceman jump into the fray to take on Pyro, a fight that was as much a cock-fight as it was a battle for world domination and grimaced.

She only hoped Jean and Logan would be able to give their side the advantage.

* * *

The Wolverine was disappointed that his number one foe was not around to battle with, but Sabretooth missed the epic battle in his drowning death at the Statue of Liberty. Instead, Wolverine had to content himself with new foes, ones like Juggernaut that could hold a candle to Wolverine in most arenas. Still, it was no Sabretooth and all too easy to bowl the large man over to focus on someone else.

Mystique.

Now there was a challenge, Wolverine realized as the blue woman attacked, kicking at his chest and knocking him backwards. He snarled as he charged her, spinning quickly when she flipped over to evade his attack and jabbing forward with his claws. He'd stuck her once and thought he'd killed her, but he hadn't been that lucky.

This time, she wouldn't be that lucky.

Phoenix hadn't bothered to start off small and aimed her first attack at the woman responsible for her daughter's presence at the battle at all. There was no fear on Emma Frost's face, just as there was simple calm on Phoenix's.

"Being replaced is difficult, isn't it Jean?" the woman taunted. "Finding out that your fiancée is not only terrified of you but switched sides because of you?"

Jean winced at the words, the hurt stinging slightly in the back of Phoenix's mind. However, that didn't affect Phoenix in the slightest. There was a difference between the killing machine that inhabited the body of Jean Grey and Jean Grey herself and Emma was about to learn the ruthless difference.

"Its hard to always play second banana, isn't it? You know he'll never hold you in the same esteem he did Jean. You'll always be the replacement, always be the second," Phoenix taunted in reply, twisting Emma's arm painfully without laying a finger on her body. Phoenix intended to make this bitch pay for the trauma she'd put her family through and Emma Frost was going to… slowly and painfully.

* * *

Mystique lay unconscious in the foray of watchers, a testament to Wolverine's skill and temper. The vacant eyes focused on the brown-haired man left, completely ignoring the mastermind behind it all and focusing completely on the traitor in front of him.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that this battle was the one everyone was looking for. Those that knew the two men knew of their long rivalry, a rivalry that started over a woman and would now end in the bloody battle both had craved from day one.

"Come on you coward," Wolverine growled at his foe. "Fight me like man."

"That would have to mean you were a man too," Cyclops shot back scathingly. "Quite obviously, you aren't."

Wolverine grinned cruelly. "It kills you that she picked me. It kills you that she picked the 'animal' over the 'human', doesn't it, One-Eye. She picked the bad boy over the Golden Boy and you hate that." It wasn't usually like Wolverine to use words, preferring the more direct approach to battle, but in this instance, it seemed fitting.

"It kills you that I had her first," Cyclops shot back easily.

"She's mine now," Wolverine countered. "That's what matters to you."

"I've moved on," Cyclops replied, making the first attack and missing. "I have someone else."

"Second best," Wolverine growled, attacking and managing to knick his opponent's arm. Then the talking ceased in favour of true battle.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 **

Phoenix stood over the body of Emma Frost feeling much better about herself, and not from the endless well of strength that was flowing through her veins. She'd exacted her revenge and it felt great.

There was only one person left.

Magneto hid his fear well but to a telepath, it was all too easy to see. He'd never faced someone of her strength and temperament before and Phoenix revelled in the new kind of power she now wielded.

That didn't stop Magneto from trying.

"How does it feel to be free?" he questioned. "To be able to stretch your mind and your abilities to their fullest extent?"

Phoenix saw through the attempt at manipulation. "Fabulous, probably as good as it will feel to watch you die."

"Please, Miss Grey. Killing is not in your nature." He'd switched tactics, finally understanding how much control Jean had over her teke and telepathy.

Phoenix saw through that too. "This is true," she conceded, "but exceptions can easily be made."

"They already have been," Magneto pointed out with a sweeping hand over the gathered. Dead lay everywhere, slaughtered by claws or dead from aneurisms. Phoenix and Wolverine had wreaked that havoc. Phoenix didn't dwell on it.

"You put them into battle," she began. "You are just as responsible for their deaths as I am."

"They wanted to go into battle, they wanted to fight for the right side."

"The right side is working for tolerance. It's a longer battle, but so much more rewarding."

"You're fighting against your own kind," Magneto countered.

Phoenix shook her head, advancing step by step. "We're fighting for what we believe in, for things that matter to us and a world dominated by mutants doesn't sound all that appealing."

Magneto retreated as she advanced, one step backwards for one step forwards, and it was starting to frustrate Phoenix. How was she supposed to battle a coward?

The decision was made for her when Wolverine flew at her. She dodged and winced, knowing this was going to be a tougher battle than she'd originally anticipated, especially since Magneto was essentially turning Wolverine against her.

"You'll have to kill him first," Magneto taunted.

"You really are a coward, you know," Phoenix responded, dodging Wolverine again before stopping Magneto's next attack with her mind.

"A coward? Or am I just resourceful."

"You don't fight your own battles," Phoenix pointed out. "You use dirty tricks to try and get supporters. You tried to kidnap my daughter to get me to fight for you. You're using Wolverine to save yourself in hopes that I'll do your dirty work for you."

"My dirty work? There's nothing dirty about it."

"When was the last time you really faced an opponent? When was the last time you took on someone else, one on one?" Phoenix asked, holding Wolverine stronger than Magneto could.

"My dear, that is not relevant here. And your charming professor does as much manipulating as I do."

"Admitting you have a problem is the first step towards fixing it," Phoenix teased, still holding Wolverine out of harms way, ignoring his loud growling at being used as a tool in this battle. Really, there was nothing she could do to break Magneto's hold.

"Enough."

Slowly, all eyes moved to settle on the small redhead that stood off to Phoenix's left. The girl's eyes were a coal black and power literally sparked over her skin, lightening bolts jumping and skimming the surface.

"What the hell?" Juggernaut questioned, having stood back to allow Magneto to battle Phoenix.

"This is stupid," another voice agreed, sounding like the first. All eyes shifted to Phoenix's right, where another redhead stood.

"Two?" Magneto questioned, suddenly much less courageous than he had been. He turned to face his top hands. "You said nothing about twins!"

"What you're doing is wrong," Michele spoke up, her voice sounding like that of an old woman, rather than the six-year-old girl.

"You're fighting against yourself," Jane agreed, stepping so she could grab her mother's hand if she wanted. Michele mirrored the move.

"You say you fight for mutant equality," Michele picked up. "You say you fight for mutant freedom, but freedom from what? All you're going to do is oppress those that you defeat. What difference is that from what we have now?"

"Mutants will have control. Silly girls, you have no idea how big this is," Magneto shot back scathingly, trying to push against Phoenix's hold on Wolverine to no avail.

Jane and Michele each raised a hand and watched Magneto crumple slightly. However, even they weren't strong enough, only six and not fully trained. He fought back against their power and the pressure on his mind. He didn't have enough strength, however, to keep his hold on Wolverine.

Phoenix lessened her push as Magneto's force lessened until she could carefully set Wolverine down on the ground where he crumpled immediately, unconscious. It gave her reprieve to focus on the battle her daughters were in.

"This is bigger than even you," Michele agreed, twisting her face in determination. "You have no clue how easy it will be for the non-mutants to overthrow you after a while."

"What are you talking about?" Magneto cackled.

"You rule like a tyrant," Jane pointed out. "It won't take long for your own people to start wanting to get rid of you and then it will only be a matter of time before they all join together against you."

"I will be a hero to all mutant kind," Magneto countered. "They will worship me for the work I've done."

"They'll hate you for being oppressive," Jane contradicted. "Even the mutants you 'saved' will hate the oppressive way you treat those under your rule."

"They will love me!" Magneto yelled, standing up straight with the rest of his strength.

Phoenix looked at him with hatred in her eyes. Then she too raised her hand, ready to crush him. "Never."

Magneto buckled under the combined pressure from all of the Grey women, his hands on his head. Phoenix, Michele and Jane felt many things from the older man as they swamped their minds, the fear from the Holocaust, the triumph he felt when he terrified the men around him, the moment he realized he had extraordinary powers… And his lack of understand of exactly what he'd put into motion, the effect he'd had.

Finally, he lay, unmoving, on the ground in front of them.

* * *

Ororo watched, standing on the edge of the line of X-men, awed at what was taking place in front of her eyes. How on earth Magneto was unable to withstand the telepathic and telekinetic attacks of Jean and her girls, but could from Xavier. It put into perspective the strength of the redheads.

She also watched all three of them collapse.

It took the X-men all of five minutes to gather up their fallen, including the unconscious Greys and Logan and return to the Blackbird for the journey home. She ended up beside Kurt on their journey, co-piloting beside him.

"They are powerful," he whispered, knowing the rest of the plane was either tending to the fallen or asleep in the seats.

"They are," she agreed, half of her brain focused on flying, the other half on the back of the plane and the constant scurrying Hank was doing. The big blue man had been in the battle for only the preliminary stages, not wanting to be too badly injured to help the rest. Now, he worked at making sure his comrades healed properly.

"I am so glad that's done," Kitty said, flopping down in the co-pilot's seat.

"For how long?" Ororo asked softly, staring ahead.

"With Magneto gone? A long time," Kitty replied, turning to look at Ororo, confusion in her eyes.

"No one's sure Magneto's dead," Ororo pointed out. By the time all of the commotion had cleared and all of the X-men, injured and healthy, had been returned to their transportation, Magneto was no where in sight. It gave Ororo goose bumps to think that he could still be alive and the Grey girls hadn't killed him.

"We can only celebrate one victory at a time," Kitty pointed out. "Let's focus on winning now and then we can work out how to make sure this peace lasts."

Ororo smiled at the younger woman. "That's pretty smart of you. You've been talking with Charles again."

Kitty blushed. "Maybe a bit," she agreed. The philosophical discussions between Kitty and the professor were legendary around the mansion, simply because they were entertaining to watch. Kitty had a very new way of looking at life where Xavier's was more classical. It never ceased to amaze anyone lucky enough to catch wind of it how often the younger came out on top.

"Next stop, home," Ororo said, steering the plane away from Alkali Lake and the poor memories it held.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 **

The first thing Jean's mind registered upon her slow ascent into wakefulness was the beeping of what she knew to be medical instruments. Inwardly, she huffed.

Please let this be one of the last times I end up in this place because I need medical attention, she begged an unseen presence. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open and she took in the familiar white ceiling of the infirmary side of the medlab. Gingerly she sat up, minding the wires and cords attached to her body, including the IV tube. Her eyes took in the surrounding areas including the occupied beds.

Her family was there.

"Its nice to see one of you finally awake," came a soft female voice.

Jean waited until Ororo walked around to look at her. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not much," Jean admitted.

"You've been out for just over two weeks," Ororo said, her voice still soft, as if speaking too loud would wake one of the others. "Our assumption is that each one of you was just too worn out, though Logan took some pretty bad hits."

"Everyone's okay though, right?" Jean asked apprehensively.

Ororo nodded reassuringly. "Hank said it was just a matter of time before you all woke. Get some more rest. You've been through a lot."

Obediently, Jean lay back against the sheets and pillows, closing her eyes against the light. Seconds later, she was again asleep.

* * *

Jean and Logan were the first members of their family to be released from the infirmary, though Jane and Michele hadn't woken. It did, however, give Jean and Logan time to talk about what they were going to do with their exceptionally gifted children.

It had been a long chat, both of them bringing up the fears associated with allowing them to fight or sheltering them from the world they lived in. Eventually, it was decided that the final choice would be left up to Jane and Michele. It wasn't a surprising conclusion, especially since the girls had shown remarkable insight while fighting Magneto to begin with.

For now they sat between their daughters' beds, wondering just how long it was going to take for them to wake up. Jean knew the statistics but she also knew what it was like to run down psychic abilities.

"They'll wake up," she assured Logan after sitting the day beside the girls with no movement from them at all.

"But how long?"

"We have to be patient," Jean answered soothingly, even if her own mind was in complete turmoil.

"Patience, patience, patience, that's all anyone ever says," Logan grumbled as they made their way up to their bedroom.

Jean chuckled lightly, knowing Logan was never patient. "I had to be patient when you were injured, you know," she pointed out. "Before the girls were born."

Logan wrapped an arm around her shoulders, taking pleasure in the way she immediately curled into his side. "I didn't get hurt that often," he said.

"When you did in Germany I was terrified," she responded honestly, trying to snuggle even closer into his side.

"I'm sorry," he answered smartly, kissing the side of her head.

"No you're not," she replied smiling. "That's not what matters anyway. Jane and Michele will be up before we know it."

* * *

"Mommy?" Jean jumped at the small voice, sending a quick prayer up to the Powers that Be saying thank you for her daughters before she sat on the edge of Jane's bed.

"Hey sweetie," Jean whispered in reply, taking her daughter's hand.

"What happened?" Jane groaned as she tried to sit up. Jean gently pushed her back down.

"Don't sit up yet," Jean advised. "You just woke up."

"I feel fine, Mommy, I just don't remember what happened."

"At all?"

"I remember Michele and Aunt Marie getting kidnapped and I remember you and Daddy going to find them," she replied and Jean could tell her daughter was stepping around an issue. "Not much else."

"You remember stowing away on the Blackbird," Jean accused with a reproachful smile that told her daughter she wasn't actually mad about it anymore. "And I'm sure you remember Daddy and me going missing." Since Logan had promised to have a chat with both girls about what he and Jean did on missions, Jean had decided to stop holding back.

"I might remember that," Jane said with a giggle. When she tried to sit up the second time, Jean let her. "I don't know why I'm here though. I felt perfectly fine when we left."

"You and Michele helped take down Magneto," Jean replied softly, taking her daughter's hand gently.

"Is that why my head hurts a bit?"

Jean chuckled, tears coming to her eyes. "Yeah, that would be it. You girls showed a huge display of power."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Apparently, Michele was awake too.

"You two are probably the reason we were able to win," Jean answered, still sitting on Jane's bed.

"No way," Jane breathed. "You're the strongest."

Jean smiled. "Not anymore. Or, I won't be when you girls are trained."

"But…"

"We knew it was going to happen." Logan had re-entered the infirmary, working on the notification that Jean had sent when Jane woke up.

Jean took a deep breath. "Your father and I decided we weren't going to hide things from you anymore," she said carefully, her eyes on Logan as he sat on the edge of Michele's bed. "We're going to tell you about the Brotherhood, the mutants and how we are involved."

"Why?" Michele asked, slowly sitting up like her sister.

"Because we decided that eventually, you girls are going to have to make a choice. You are going to have the choice to stay here and teach, to fight for Grandpa Charles and what he believes in, or you can leave and find your own jobs elsewhere and try to become regular, if special, members of society," Jean answered delicately.

Michele and Jane exchanged glances, the way that only twins could. "We're listening."

* * *

Jean lay against Logan that night, more than content. Her girls were awake, and she and Logan had made it out of the 'epic battle' in one piece.

"The girls are six now," Logan said softly, breaking the comfortable silence that had enveloped them.

Jean gasped. "That's right! I'd completely forgotten they didn't get a chance to celebrate their birthday."

"That wasn't what I was thinkin' about," Logan replied, amusement colouring his voice, "but you're right."

"We'll have to throw them a party," Jean decided, snuggling closer against Logan. "With balloons and cake and the whole family."

"That's what I wanted to talk about," Logan murmured, brushing a hand against her hair. "Family."

Jean tilted her head until she could see his face. "What are you planning?" she asked, eyes narrowing in mock suspicion.

Logan's hand delved into his pocket, withdrawing that ever-famous little black box. "I'm thinkin' the news that you are I are getting' married will be the best birthday present for the girls," he answered, presenting the box to her."

"Are you proposing to me?" Jean inquired in amusement, already knowing they'd vowed to marry if they made it out of the battle.

"You forget you already have," he shot back, a gentle smile blossoming across his face. "But this will make it official." Gingerly, he opened the box, revealing the small diamond ring.

"You know I love you, Jeannie," he said softly. "Marry me?"

The smile she gave him would have lit up half of Africa with its brilliance. "Yes," she breathed, throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing.

"Yes."

* * *

**_Quite honestly, this is where I want to end it, HOWEVER, if someone can give me a really, really good reason to get off my lazy bum and write another chapter/epilogue I might be able to accomodate it. If not, this is where my journey ends, my dears! It has been a pleasure and HUGE thanks to people like Missy, AliasSpyCrazy, and Dark Phoenix Rising that have reviewed every chapter of not only this, but all of the prequels. You guys are my heroes, thank you._**

**_Missy: Before you go tearing me apart because you don't like how it ends :P, you like angst, I don't... not really anyway and to put any more in it was going to require me to rip my hair out at the roots. Hugs to you anyway for being a sounding board through this whole thing! Looking forward to your chapter 14..._**


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